For ship operators, it was no surprise that Drewry’s 2023/24 Manning Annual Review and Forecast found that seafarer labour shortages are at a 17-year high. It is the latest in a line of reports highlighting that while global demand for shipping has increased over the years, recruiting and retaining seafarers is much more challenging than ever before.

“Ships are still sailing, but if the supply doesn’t improve significantly, there could be problems,” says Rhett Harris, senior manning analyst at Drewry. Those problems could eventually result in vessels being stuck at port, but vessels could increasingly sail with skeleton crews before then. The result – seafarers become overworked. Vessel maintenance may take a back seat, resulting in more significant repair jobs in dry docks. In a worst-case scenario, accidents will become more frequent.

Supply and demand

Although seafarers come from across the world, some countries supply a greater proportion than others. Among the major seafarer supply countries, intake numbers vary.

“In India and the Philippines, the government provides excellent support to seafarers, so their intake is actually good,” says Harris. China is also one of the major supply countries seeing good intake. Chinese seafarers tend to favour Chinese-flagged vessels however, so are less likely to contribute to the global supply.

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Read the full story “Solving the seafarer shortage” at On the Radar.