Getting home (repatriation)

Fishers · Know your rights

You have the right to get home when your agreement ends or if you can no longer work.

What you should get

• Repatriation when your agreement ends, is ended for justified reasons, or you can no longer do the job — including when you are taken off the vessel in a foreign port for these reasons (C188, Art. 21).
• The cost paid by the vessel owner, unless you are found, under national law, to be in serious default of your agreement (C188, Art. 21).
• From 1 January 2028, on vessels covered by CMM 2024-04: regular chances to go ashore, free access to your own identity documents, the ability to end your contract and seek repatriation, and unmonitored access to communication devices to ask for help (para. 7f). Where the owner ends the contract early, the owner covers repatriation costs except for a serious breach by the crew member (para. 7g).

Check for

• Your passport and seaman's book stay with you
• Your agreement says how and when you will be sent home

What you can do

• If someone takes your passport and will not give it back, that is a warning sign. Ask for help (see 'Who to call').

Sources: ILO C188, Art. 21 (NORMLEX) · WCPFC CMM 2024-04, para. 7(f)–(g)

This card is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by country and by the vessel's flag. Information checked 2 October 2026. For help, see piowr.org/fishers and piowr.org/tools/find-help.

Pacific Institute of Workplace Relations · Fair Conditions At Work · piowr.org