WHERE WILL TOMORROW'S SEAFARERS COME FROM?

A landmark study warns that nearly half of today's seafarers plan to quit within five years.

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As traditional crewing markets age and working conditions drive talent away, ship managers are scrambling to build new pipelines. The latest chapter from our new shipmanagement magazine.

The numbers are alarming. A major new survey by the World Maritime University (WMU), published in January and commissioned by the Officers' Union of International Seamen, drew on responses from 4,372 seafarers of 99 nationalities to paint an alarming picture of a workforce under severe strain — and increasingly minded to walk away.

The report, In Search of a Sea-Life Balance in an Adverse Environment, finds seafarers working an average of 71 hours per week globally, rising to 79 hours for US seafarers. Around one-third of all respondents show stress levels classed as "severe and potentially dangerous." Work and rest records are being routinely adjusted to mask regulatory breaches. Shore leave is severely limited.

Most troubling for owners and managers is the finding on retention: nearly half of all respondents indicate an intention to quit seafaring within the next five years.

WMU president Maximo Mejia commented: "Prioritising seafarers' mental wellbeing and healthy working conditions is a necessity, as well as the way to ensure the long-term sustainability of the maritime workforce."

The WMU called for urgent, evidence-based action to cut administrative burdens, enforce realistic manning and rest standards, and embed human-factors science in regulation — arguing that without this, shipping faces a compounding recruitment and safety crisis.

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