Seafarers Abroad: What Official and Industry Sources Say

How many seafarers are there

The Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, published by the shipping associations BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) on 25 June 2026, estimates that 2.57 million seafarers currently serve the fleet, operating 85,148 merchant ships. It estimates a shortage of 39,100 STCW certified officers and a surplus of 56,890 ratings in 2026, and a need for an additional 113,735 officers by 2030. These are industry associations, not governments, and the figures are estimates. The report is published every five years and was last issued in 2021; its 2021 estimate of total supply was 1,892,720, so earlier figures of that size come from the previous edition.

The ICS executive summary names the five countries reporting the largest numbers of seafarers in 2026 as the Philippines, India, China, the Russian Federation and Indonesia. The summary’s per-country columns are not reproduced here because the printed table’s headings do not line up with its figures.

BIMCO: press release on the Seafarer Workforce Report 2026

ICS: Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, executive summary (PDF)

STCW: the international certification standard

The IMO says the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) was adopted on 7 July 1978 and entered into force on 28 April 1984, and has been amended several times since. Part A of the STCW Code contains mandatory provisions that give the minimum standards the Parties must maintain; Part B is recommended guidance. The 2010 Manila amendments introduced, among other things, revised requirements on hours of work and rest, new certification requirements for able seafarers, and a refresher training module every five years for basic training on personal survival techniques and fire prevention and firefighting.

The IMO also publishes a list of Parties confirmed by its Maritime Safety Committee as giving full effect to the Convention (MSC.1/Circ.1163, as amended). Whether another country accepts a given certificate, how long an endorsement takes and what a course costs are not stated on that page and are not stated here.

IMO: STCW Convention

MLC 2006: seafarers’ rights at sea

The ILO calls the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006 (MLC, 2006) the “seafarers’ bill of rights”. It says the Convention sets out seafarers’ rights to decent working conditions covering minimum age, employment agreements, hours of work or rest, payment of wages, paid annual leave, repatriation at the end of contract, onboard medical care, the use of licensed private recruitment and placement services, accommodation, food and catering, health and safety protection and complaint handling. It says all seafarers on ships that fly the flag of a country that has ratified the Convention are covered once it has entered into force for that country, and that ships flying the flag of a country that has not ratified it are also subject to inspection of working and living conditions when they enter a port of a country where the Convention is in force.

This page does not give the Convention’s limits on hours of work or rest or on paid leave; the ILO page read lists those subjects without figures. The ILO page dates from 2013, so its ratification counts are not used here.

ILO: Basic facts on the Maritime Labour Convention 2006

The ILO minimum wage for an able seafarer

In April 2025 the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the ILO’s Joint Maritime Commission agreed to update the ILO minimum basic wage for an able seafarer to US$690 per month as of 1 January 2026, US$704 as of 1 January 2027 and US$715 as of 1 January 2028. The resolution, concerning the ILO minimum monthly basic pay or wage for able seafarers, notes that the Convention states that the number of normal hours per week covered by the minimum monthly basic wage figure should not exceed 48 hours per week, and acknowledges that the agreed figure in no way prejudices collective bargaining or the adoption of higher levels in other international wage-setting mechanisms. This is the ILO’s reference minimum monthly basic wage for one rank. It is not a salary survey, and this page gives no pay by rank, ship type or employer.

ILO: Resolution on the minimum monthly basic pay or wage for able seafarers (April 2025, PDF)

Tax: the UK Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction

HMRC’s guidance says an employee who works at sea may be able to reduce their tax bill with the Seafarers’ Earnings Deduction. To get it you must have worked on a ship, worked outside the UK long enough to qualify (usually a minimum of 365 days), and been resident in the UK or resident for tax purposes in a European Economic Area State other than the UK. It says you cannot get the deduction if you were a Crown employee, not a UK resident, or not a resident of an EEA State (other than the UK). To claim, you need an eligible period of at least 365 days that is mainly made up of days when you were absent from the UK. The page shows a last-updated date of 17 June 2022.

This is one national rule. Tax rules for other countries are not covered here; confirm them with the relevant tax authority.

GOV.UK (HMRC): Seafarers Earnings Deduction