Sea lions gather on the docks in front of the ship Dayna S, right, a McAdam's Fish boat where seafarer Reyner Dagalea of the Philippines lived for months last year while waiting for backpay, in Westport, Wash., on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
This photo provided by Ievgen Slautin of Ukraine, captain of the cargo ship Monarch Princess, shows him, second from left, with the six men who were with him on the ship abandoned by owners Teeters Agency & Stevedoring at the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Fla., and other men in 2023. Left hanging by Teeters were the ships' crews of mostly Ukrainian seafarers, who suddenly had no way of sending money to families back home in what was now a war zone after Russia’s invasion. (Courtesy Ievgen Slautin via AP)
This satellite image provided by Planet Labs shows the abandoned cargo ship Al-Maha, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on March 5, 2024. The United Nations has logged an increasing number of crew members abandoned by shipowners, leaving sailors aboard months and sometimes years without pay. More than 2,000 seafarers on some 150 ships were abandoned last year. (Planet Labs via AP)
Captain of the cargo ship Monarch Princess, Ievgen Slautin of Ukraine, speaks during an interview in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Feb. 5, 2024. Teeters Agency & Stevedoring, which owned the vessel, became insolvent and stopped paying dockage fees in Florida. Slautin said although he was still owed around $15,000, he thanked God he was abandoned in the United States. "If it was in some other country, I could have been left there to simply die." (AP Photo/Daniel Kozin)
The Dayna S, a McAdam's Fish boat where seafarer Reyner Dagalea lived for months while waiting for backpay, is moored in Westport, Wash., on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
This photo provided by the International Transport Workers’ Federation shows Mohammad Aisha, center, near the abandoned cargo ship MV Aman in Egyptian waters in March 2021. In 2021 reports surfaced that he was living alone on the ship, forced to swim to shore for food and water. Though he left the ship in 2021, the case is still working its way through the courts three years later. He has not yet been paid, the ITF said. (ITF via AP)
Seafarer Richard Zambales stands on the porch of a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. While waiting for backpay, stuck in the U.S., Zambales wasn’t sure he would be able to pay for his wife’s heart medication. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seafarer Norberto Cabrela stands for a portrait while on a video call with his infant son, who he had not been able to meet in person, at a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. While waiting for backpay, stuck in the U.S., Cabrela missed the birth of his son, then scrambled to find the money to pay the hospital bills. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Household products sit in a window of the Dayna S, a McAdam's Fish boat where seafarer Reyner Dagalea of the Philippines lived for months last year while waiting for backpay, in Westport, Wash., on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seafarer Reyner Dagalea greets volunteer Mika Magbanua at a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seafarer Richard Zambales, from the Philippines, smokes outside a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. While waiting for backpay, stuck in the U.S., Zambales wasn’t sure he would be able to pay for his wife’s heart medication. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
From left, seafarers Richard Zambales and Albert Docuyan walk to take a written driver's license test with community activists and volunteers Jill Mangaliman and Mika Magbanua Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seafarer Albert Docuyan, right, presses his passport and other documents to his head while Richard Zambales, left, and Reyner Dagalea, center, look on as the group has a call with the Philippine consulate general at a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. They are among the two dozen Filipino crew members confined to tuna fishing vessels for months last year without U.S. visas in Westport, Wash. while waiting for backpay from their employer, McAdam's Fish, and recruitment agency Pescadores International. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
This combination of photos provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the galley and dining area of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP)
This photo provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP)
This image from video provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows him on the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. Saleh, who was originally from Syria, said he had once been proud of his work as an engineer on the Al-Maha, which made its money ferrying livestock for Ramadan festivities between Sudanese and Saudi Arabian ports. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP)
This image from video provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows him in his bedroom aboard the cargo ship Al-Maha at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. Saleh says he rarely got a good night’s sleep during the near-decade he spent working without pay on a cargo ship abandoned by its owner at ports along the Red Sea. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP)
Seafarer Richard Zambales of the Philippines packs his clothing while preparing to move out of a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. He is part of a group of six men at the house who were among two dozen Filipino crew members confined to tuna fishing vessels for months last year without U.S. visas in Westport, Wash., while waiting for backpay from their employer, McAdam's Fish, and recruitment agency Pescadores International. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
In this photo provided by the International Transport Workers’ Federation, Mohammad Aisha carries bags to the abandoned cargo ship MV Aman in Egyptian waters in March 2021. In 2021 reports surfaced that he was living alone on the ship, forced to swim to shore for food and water. Though he left the ship in 2021, the case is still working its way through the courts three years later. He has not yet been paid, the ITF said. (ITF via AP)
This combination of photos provided by Abdul Nasser Saleh shows the deck of the cargo ship Al-Maha, abandoned by its owners, at the seaport of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in January 2024. (Courtesy Abdul Nasser Saleh via AP)
Seafarer Reyner Dagalea looks out from the porch of a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. Dagalea spent three months in Westport, Wash., scrubbing the fish hold of a tuna ship, washing the deck, and playing solitaire — anything, he said, to keep his mind off the money his family in the Philippines was waiting on. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Richard Zambales is reflected in a mirror doing laundry while Reyner Dagalea, center, looks down at his phone at a temporary rental house in Lacey, Wash., on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. They are part of a group of six men at the house who were among two dozen Filipino crew members confined to tuna fishing vessels for months last year without U.S. visas in Westport, Wash. while waiting for backpay from their employer, McAdam's Fish, and recruitment agency Pescadores International. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
Seafarer Albert Docuyan waits on a bench at El Centro de la Raza, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024, in Seattle. While waiting for backpay, stuck in the U.S., Docuyan’s wife moved from the Philippines to Malaysia to find work that could pay the fees for their children’s school. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)