There is the occasional ship stranded in Charleston SC and there are local church groups who will put together a food & supply boat to go out there for the crews. They can't leave the ship as they don't have visas. USCIS doesn't really want them to anyway, as there's no guarantee they'll return to the ship or their home country.

> They can't leave the ship as they don't have visas. What's to stop them? Can't they take a life boat, head for shore, get arrested for illegal entry and get deported home?

Obviously not ideal, but at least you get fed and eventually get back home.

They may have problems in leaving, but that's not as big issue because they generally anyway had been contracted to stay there for many more months.

On the other hand, unlike factory workers in a totally bankrupt organization, the ship crews will get paid - they get "priority" on the ship and cargo; if the ship gets sold in some auction or restructuring, the new owner can't take possession until the previous crew gets paid.

I think lack of basic supplies, and wages, now isn't really remedied by getting a share of monies from a sale at some point in the far future.

1: "I need water"

2: "Don't worry, next year you'll (probably) have enough money to buy some"

Surely there are international agreements with remedies for such situations? When do the coastguard step in and save the crew from dehydration/starvation?

Doesn't look good for them. See http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-09-06/hanjin-s-g...

But am not aware of reports about how things are for them this week.