KENYA Maritime Authority has raised a red flag over illegal recruitment of seafarers on ships plying Kenyan waters on the Indian Ocean.

KMA director general Nancy Karigithu issued the warning after it emerged that shipping agents operating in Mombasa had started engaging in illegal recruitment without following due process as stipulated in the Merchant Shipping Act of 2009.

Speaking to the Star yesterday, Kenya Seafarers Welfare Association chairman Hamisi Juma said KMA had turned a blind eye as unscrupulous agencies take advantage of Kenya's unemployed youth.

"We want KMA to intervene because we have information that our people are being taken to war torn Mogadishu without even risk allowance," he said.

Karigithu however denied the claims saying anyone found engaging in this illegal act will according to section 118, of the Merchant Shipping Act, be liable to Sh100,000 fine or six months imprisonment or both.