Ghost Fleet VR

At 14, Tun Lin was kidnapped from Thailand and sold into slavery. He spent the next 14 years aboard a fishing vessel, forced to work without pay. With help from the Labor Rights Promotion Network Foundation (LPN Foundation), he escaped and returned home. Many others never get that chance.

Ghost Fleet VR takes audiences onto the ships, into the ports, and across the seas where forced labor fuels a lucrative global fishing industry.

The experience

Go beyond the story. Enter its world.

Created as both a standalone documentary and a companion to the feature film Ghost Fleet, the VR experience brings viewers closer to the people and places behind the investigation. Rather than describe the conditions from a distance, the immersive format invites audiences to confront the realities of forced labor at sea.

At Vulcan Productions, I collaborated across development, scripting, editing, and community engagement, working with the filmmakers and our production partner, Catovia.

Directed by Lucas Gath and Shannon Service · Produced in partnership with Catovia

Winner, Shorty Social Good Award for 360 Video.

Ghost Fleet VR official Sundance 2019 poster featuring fishing boats

Two women on location, one gesturing toward the distance — Patima Tungpuchayakul of the LPN Foundation

Strategy & collaboration

Beyond the experience.

My role extended beyond VR production to developing digital and social strategy and collaborating on the broader impact campaign.

One of our biggest challenges was reaching people directly affected by trafficking and forced labor. Digital communications alone weren't enough. Earning trust required people on the ground, distributing materials, having conversations, and building relationships within vulnerable communities. Working together with our filmmakers and the LPN Foundation, we developed an approach that combined digital reach with personal outreach.

Impact / The combined Ghost Fleet campaign

A different kind of witness.

Ghost Fleet was part of a larger effort to expose forced labor in the global fishing industry and support those working to end it.

The feature film, VR experience, and broader campaign helped bring these stories to audiences, industry leaders, and policymakers around the world. Together, they demonstrated how storytelling could do more than raise awareness. It could help create the understanding, relationships, and momentum needed for change.

11.3M+

Social media views

60+

Film festivals in 22 countries

400+

Seafood industry representatives engaged

Reported results for the overall Ghost Fleet campaign, not the VR experience alone.