Why are so many seafarers leaving the sea life behind? what it means for the next generation?
Here are the Top 7 reasons seafarers quit sea job.
- Mental Burnout & demanding lifestyle – long contracts, which mostly between 2-9 months at sea, sign off delays, repetition. Mental fatigue builds up and breaks even the strongest. Isolation onboard with no real shore leave makes it worse. A lot of countries these days make it difficult or impossible for seafarer’s shore leave never to happen. Companies also, contributes to it by threatening and requesting seafarers to prepper for port state control (PSC) or right ship inspection, which never happen in real fact.
- Salary level comparing to Sacrifice – After 2018, when fuel price dropped and shipping market inflation surfaced, adding to 2019-2020 covid problem, The seafarers’ job doesn’t pay what they used to. The inflation rises and salaries stay flat, then people ask: “Is it worth the sacrifice?” Since most of the shore jobs pay same amount of wages, it’s better to stay close to home, and keep safe.
- Poor Connectivity & Communication – On our present time, internet sometime gives little relief to people. You can solve home problem via online, read some interesting books and articles, watch some interesting short videos, etc. But when for Weeks, months, without proper internet. Missing family updates, not seeing your kid’s birthday, wife, mother, father, brother or sister’s birthday, that leaves a heavy mark of discourage.
- Lack of social and daily life routine – With the 6 hours ON and 6 hours OFF watch routine, plus extra overtime of 2-4 hours, sometimes it’s very difficult to do things you usually do that makes you happy. Let’s say you love playing musical instrument, or listing to music, film, etc. With the time limit, you will prefer to sleep little than to listen to do any of those.
- No Career Growth – Most offshore vessel, are normally boring. Mostly like (same position, same vessel, same duties) year after year. Without training or promotion pathways, motivation dies. Many companies, always promise promotion, but it never happens.
- Safety & Stress – Pushing crew to their limits to meet commercial pressure with understaffed ships and poor dry dock maintenance (like some overboard valves or sea chest not holding). Some just don’t want to risk their lives anymore. No PCS inspector will check overboard valves or sea chest holding or not. rather, they do check little leakages, then make cases with same. But the main life danger side, always omitted.
- Age limits – When a seafarer age clocked to 50 for ratings and 59 for officers, it becomes more harder to get proper ship to work. adding with the commitment to meet commercial pressure, no power to work so many hours. The only option is to search for shore job, paying similar or nearly same salary and leave the sea job.
Also check out 10 Recommended Maritime Jobs Recruitment websites
All been mentioned, when you hear a seafarer with these statements like: “This is my last contract.”, “I can’t do this anymore.” “I’m done with ships.” Just know, it’s any of the above caused it. Adding in recent years, Politics and Conflicts on the vessel, war and maritime piracy, contributes to discouragement to the job.
The maritime next generation job conditions remain on question. if the paper works of an officer on watch has increased by 30% for the past 10 years, how much more in the next 5 years, which already has lots of plans for more maritime roles and regulations.
