Chinese tuna longliner’s crew succumbs to illness amid grueling hours and negligible pay

In February 2025, a 36‑year‑old deckhand named Abdul, on his first assignment aboard the Chinese‑registered longline tuna vessel Tai Xiang 5, began experiencing swollen, bruised limbs and debilitating weakness that his fellow crew dismissed as mere overreaction, compelling him to continue working despite being unable to stand unaided.

Over the ensuing months, additional members of the same crew reported similar symptoms—including painful swelling of limbs, shortness of breath and extreme fatigue—while the vessel’s schedule persisted at sixteen‑hour days for a monthly wage of roughly 4.6 million Indonesian rupiah, an amount that translates to approximately £198 and offers no justification for the absence of medical assistance or mandated rest periods.

By the time the vessel returned to port, three crew members had died under circumstances that investigators linked to the cumulative effects of prolonged physical strain, inadequate nutrition and the outright denial of timely healthcare, thereby exposing a stark contradiction between the ship’s contribution to European seafood supply chains and the welfare standards afforded to those who harvest the catch.

The Tai Xiang 5 operates under the flag of Shandong Zhonglu Oceanic Fisheries, a large state‑owned Chinese fishing enterprise whose vessels populate the fleets that supply tuna to markets in the United Kingdom and the European Union, yet the company’s operational protocols appear to prioritize catch volume over basic occupational safety, as evidenced by the crew’s reported inability to obtain medical evaluation despite clear signs of occupational illness.

Regulatory oversight from both Chinese maritime authorities and importing nations has historically relied on paperwork and periodic inspections, a framework that in this instance proved insufficient to detect the systemic neglect that allowed an entire crew to work through life‑threatening conditions without intervention, thereby highlighting a predictable governance gap that benefits profit margins at the expense of human health.

The revelations emanating from the Tai Xiang 5 therefore underscore a broader paradox in global seafood procurement, wherein the pursuit of low‑cost, year‑round supply chains for affluent consumers coexists with a tacit acceptance of labor practices that would be deemed unacceptable in any other industry, a reality that calls into question the efficacy of existing certification schemes and the political will to enforce meaningful labor standards across transnational fisheries.

Published: April 23, 2026