Is there really a shortage of seafarer officers?

摘要

According to the 2015 BIMCO/ICS Manpower Report, the global supply of seafarers in 2015 stood at approximately 1,647,500, including 774,000 officers and 873,500 ratings. The report also estimated that the global demand for officers in the same year stood at 790,500, indicating a shortage of 16,500 officers. There can be no doubt that it is challenging to survey a fluid and diverse workforce on a global scale. BIMCO/ICS achieves unparalleled breadth in its coverage of the worldwide supply and demand for seafarers. In terms of depth, however, there is room for improvement, as it is not able to provide accurate and detailed data on each seafaring labour supply country. One inaccuracy is that the number of active seafarers is notoriously difficult to estimate. The national maritime authorities in each country may hold accurate data on the total number of people who hold a valid seafarer certificate at any given time. However, they have little idea of how many of them are still active (i.e. who are working, or intending to find employment, at sea) or how many have left the profession or retired. Nevertheless, even without knowing the exact number of active seafarers, it is still possible to figure out the balance of supply and demand by analysing and triangulating different sets of data released by national maritime authorities.