Shipping Industry Can Participate in Manpower Report

By Michelle Howard December 9, 2014

Since 1990, BIMCO and ICS have conducted a comprehensive survey of the world’s supply and demand of seafarers every five years. BIMCO and ICS are inviting the shipping industry to participate in the next Manpower Report.

Previous studies have shown that a large number of officers are expected to retire in the near future. Furthermore, an anticipated growth in trade will generate the need for more officers and ratings due to the increase in the number of ships needed to meet demand. The report will identify current problems and issues with maritime manpower, as well as future considerations to ensure an adequate pool of high calibre seafarers.

The new Manpower Report is expected to be published at the end of 2015. The aim is to provide a more selective and refined analysis of the results in comparison to previous reports. It will feature:

Detailed data on the current seafarer supply and demand for the world fleet and the leading seafarer supply nations;
Forward projections for the likely supply and demand situations in the next decade taking account of recruitment and retention levels remain similar;
Identification of various recruitment trends and their potential consequences; and
Provision of essential manpower data to provide strategic direction for the industry, governments and other agencies and maritime professionals responsible for ensuring that the shipping industry continues to function effectively and safely.

To facilitate identification of trends over time, the new Manpower Report will follow a similar methodology and employ comparable questionnaires to previous reports. Questionnaires will be sent to maritime administrations, shipping companies and crewing experts. Data collection methods have been enhanced regarding the ship types used, the recording of seafarer nationalities and manning scales. A new feature is the use of short surveys to seek further inputs of seafarers and other maritime professionals. The first of these surveys has been posted on the project website.