Recruiting qualified seafarers is becoming more difficult for shipping companies, according to a recent survey conducted by Danica Crewing Specialists.
Nearly half of the respondents reported facing challenges in securing the calibre of crew they need, while over 70% of crew managers said their jobs have become more demanding in the past two years.
The survey also highlights rising crew salary costs, aligning with Danica’s earlier Seafarers’ Survey findings, which showed an increase in pay across all ranks.
Among the shipping companies surveyed, 74% reported raising wages for senior officers over the past year, while over 60% increased wages for junior officers and senior ratings, and nearly 60% raised salaries for ratings. Only 6% of respondents did not adjust wages in 2023.
The salary increases vary, with senior officers seeing raises between 10% and 30%, junior officers receiving 6% to 15%, senior ratings getting pay hikes of 11% to 15%, and junior ratings benefiting from increases of 6% to 10%.
Regarding retention, just over a third of respondents observed that their seafarers are more inclined to change employers, while just under a third believed they are less willing to move, and the remaining third reported no change in this regard. Over 80% of crew managers cited salary as the primary reason for seafarers switching jobs, which aligns with nearly 80% of seafarers in Danica’s 2023 Seafarer Survey who said the same.
The survey also revealed that more than a third of shipping companies lack a written strategy for recruiting and retaining seafarers. In light of this, over half of the respondents plan to diversify their workforce by recruiting more nationalities in 2024.
Henrik Jensen, CEO of Danica Crewing Specialists, commented: “We wanted to gain insight into how crew managers assess the current manning situation and compare this with our annual Seafarers’ Survey. The results are revealing, showing how shortages of skilled seafarers, particularly in certain ranks, are affecting crewing strategies for shipping companies. It also appears that most ship owners and managers recognize the need to raise salary levels to recruit and retain top talent.”
Danica’s survey, conducted among a diverse group of crew managers and personnel involved in crewing, serves as a valuable comparison to the company’s annual Seafarers’ Survey, which gathered feedback from over 6,000 crew members. The Crew Managers’ Survey received responses from both ship-owning and ship management companies. Most respondents worked in organizations that handle all fleet management functions in-house. While the majority were employed in the crewing department, over 6% of respondents were CEOs or Managing Directors.
Geographically, respondents came from a broad range of countries, with notable representation from Greece, Cyprus, Denmark, and Singapore. Most respondents were from companies with a crew pool of 200-500 seafarers and a fleet of 10 to 25 vessels, and all key seafarer nationalities were represented in the crew pools managed by the respondents.
