Crew retention better in 2024, survey finds
Almost 90% of respondents said they had increased seafarer wages too
Danica Crewing Specialists’ latest crew managers survey presents a slightly rosier picture in terms of shipping’s crewing crisis, with retention up and recruitment stable
SHIPPING’S crewing crisis appears to have stabilised, a survey by maritime recruiter Danica Crewing Specialists revealed.
Its annual crew managers’ survey found almost 50% of respondents said the recruitment landscape was “about the same” as 2023, and less than 30% said it had got worse, compared to nearly 40% in 2023.
Perhaps more encouraging is the seafarer retention rate, which more than 40% of the shipowners and shipmanagement companies surveyed said was better than last year.
That almost 90% of companies surveyed said they had increased wages in 2024 is likely to have contributed to an increase in retention. Just 4% of respondents said they decreased wage levels in 2024 and 7% said they had not increased wages.
Despite these positive results, 31% of respondents still said the intake of competent hands had become worse or much worse in the past 12 months, though that figure was down from 46% in 2023.
Danica Crewing Specialists chief executive Henrik Jensen said it was not a shortage of seafarers that was worrying crew managers anymore, “but rather a shortage of competent seafarers”.