Seafarer salaries and retention rates on the rise

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 shipowning and shipmanagement companies, almost 90% reported that they had increased salaries in 2024. Only 7% 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.

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.”