Seafarer retention rates improve as salaries rise

(Posted on 15/02/25)

Retaining seafarers has improved slightly over the past year, thanks in part to salary raises, the annual Crew Managers’ Survey by Danica Crewing Specialists has revealed.

In its survey of in-house crew managers in ship owning and shipmanagement companies, almost 90% reported that they had increased salaries in 2024. Only seven per cent said they had not raised crew wages over the past year. Companies were more generous too – with increases above those reported in the 2023 survey, except for junior ratings.

In the companies responding to the survey:

• 75% of senior officers benefited from an increase in remuneration in 2024, up from 63% in 2023.

• 67% of junior officers got an increase, against 59% in 2023.

• 65% of senior ratings (Bosun, Fitter, Cook) saw their wages increase, compared to 54% in 2023.

• A little over 50% of other ratings also enjoyed increases in both 2023 and 2024.

Not surprisingly, retention rates are reported to have improved. The survey reveals that the fluctuation of seafarers has generally reduced, with 41% of crew managers reporting that the retention rate has improved during the past 12 months, compared to only 29% in the previous survey period. However, 23% of companies did say they felt the retention rate has worsened, although this is a decrease compared to the 36% in the 2023/24 survey.

Overall, the findings of Danica’s Crew Managers’ Survey 2024 showed a positive improvement, with fewer respondents saying the recruitment situation had worsened over 2024. However, still about a third (31%) found that the intake of new competent hands has become worse or much worse in the past 12 months, although this is down from the 46% saying the same in 2023. Henrik Jensen, CEO of Danica Crewing Specialists, commented: “This indicates that it is not a shortage of seafarers which concerns crew managers but rather a shortage of competent seafarers.”

Crew managers are mitigating risk in their crew supply chains by expanding the number of countries they recruit from – a strategy also identified in Danica’s 2023 survey and a result of global issues such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

Crew managers responding to Danica’s survey came from a range of company sizes and a wide geographical spread, with particular input from Greece, UAE, Denmark and Germany. They were largely working within crewing departments and in a senior position, 83% having worked in crewing for more than six years. There was a notable increase in the number of respondents working in larger crewing departments, compared to those taking part in the 2023 survey.

From the detailed data, it appears that 80% of the crew managers/directors report to the highest level in the organisation and are on the same level as technical and financial heads. This is an increase compared to the 2023 survey. Henrik Jensen remarked: “This could indicate a trend that shipping companies have elevated the prioritising of the crewing of their vessels.”

Danica’s 2023 survey identified that crew managers were finding their job harder than in the past. In the 2024 results 38% reported they felt the complexity of their job had not increased, while only 4% said their job had become easier. Only 4% responded to say they felt crewing vessels had become easier. Henrik Jensen commented: “Of course this doesn't mean that finding crew has become easy!”