Reported “gratuities” violate international anti-corruption legislation. However, according to the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network, 5,183 reports were received in 2023.
In an effort to address it, the International Association of Ports and Harbours is working.
Former captain Stephen Gudgeon claimed that when he refused to give up cigarettes at a port in Asia, he was once detained at gunpoint.
I was confined after they forced me ashore. He said to the press, “I was interviewed, photographed, and fingerprinted by two officials in a dark room with only a chair that I could not escape from.
