Workers cannot leave the island because the documents are in the shipowner’s possession
Approximately six months after the judicial retention of a fishing boat belonging to a Portuguese shipowner, in Cape Verde, 12 Angolan and Indonesian workers continue to be detained on board, with wages delayed for a year, according to sources linked to the process.
“They are still here, in the port of Mindelo, on the island of São Vicente. The shipowner is going to sell the ship, he has already said that he has a buyer and that he should arrive to resolve the problem by the end of the week,” the captain of Cape Verde’s Barlavento Ports, Aguinaldo Lima, told Lusa.
The Angolan ambassador to Cape Verde, Agostinho Tavares, also told Lusa that the workers remain unresolved because the shipowner intends to sell the vessel.
“The problem has not been resolved. They are still there because the shipowner says the solution is to sell the ship. There are purchase proposals, but the process is not yet complete,” he said.
According to the diplomat, the workers cannot leave the island either because the documents are in the shipowner’s possession.
“The fishermen themselves don’t want to return to Angola without receiving a year’s wages. The big problem is that because they have families,” he explained.
Despite the prolonged situation, the diplomat assured that fishermen have received basic support.
“They are living inside the boat, but they have had food. There is someone on the ground who brings supplies and fuel,” he said.
The officer also recognized the difficulty of avoiding similar situations and assured that he was in regular contact with the workers, who communicate weekly with the consular services.
In December 2025, the representative of the Cape Verde Shipping Agency (Limage), José Lima, told Lusa that the vessel had been stopped in the port of Mindelo for around two months, with 12 workers without receiving wages.
The court had notified the arrest in December, with the crew complying with the court decision.
At the same time, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) reported that the 12 men on board the Portuguese-flagged ship Novo Ruivo had been unpaid for eight months and abandoned by the shipowner.
ITF inspector Gonzalo Galan considered the situation “horrible”, stating that the fishermen are unable to support their families and demand “the only fair solution possible: to receive their unpaid wages and return home safely and without delay”.
The organization also called on employers in the European fishing industry to negotiate a collective agreement that guarantees effective protection for foreign crews on vessels with European capital.
