Despite the growth of airfreight, ships transport 90 percent of world freight cargo. There are probably one million workers in the shipping industry. The Philippines alone supplies 180,000 entry-level sailors each year. According to a recent report by the International Shipping Commission, "For thousands of international seafarers, life at sea is modern slavery and their workplace is a slave ship." Although two United Nations agencies have rules regarding fair pay, adequate food, and decent housing for sailors, neither of them has enforcement powers over individual ship owners. In terms of applicable labor laws, many of these people live in a "no-man's land." A ship can be registered in Liberia, owned in Greece, chartered to a Chinese company, and run by crew from the Philippines.
Do you think manufacturers and retailers should take greater responsibility for the conditions of workers aboard the vessels that ferry their products?