Seafarer Jobs in the UK Shipping Industry

Head Office Circular No. NP/207/24

 

To all Branches and Regional Councils

 

15^th August 2024

 

Dear Colleagues

 

Seafarer Jobs in the UK Shipping Industry

 

In line with the motion from Humber Shipping to the 2024 Biennial Maritime Industrial Organising Conference which was passed by delegates and ratified by the NEC, I am writing to Branches with a breakdown of the latest official figures that show the proportion of UK resident seafarers employed in the British shipping industry. 

 

This analysis is based on the Department for Transport’s Seafarers in the UK Shipping Industry statistics^[1] which were published in February. The DfT figures^[2] based on returns from members (shipowners) of the UK Chamber of Shipping show that in 2023 there were 17,540 UK seafarers (Ratings and Officers) working in the UK shipping industry, out of a total seafarer workforce of 148,700. That gives a figure of 11.7% for jobs held on UK Chamber of Shipping vessels by UK resident seafarers. 

 

Out of that total seafarer workforce of 148,700, Ratings jobs account for 84% (125,160). This is a 38% (c35,000) increase in the total number of Ratings jobs in the UK shipping industry in 2022. When your union asked the Chamber about this massive increase, they claim that this leap in Ratings job numbers is the result of a large cruise operator joining in 2023.

 

Seafaring remains a male dominated profession, holding 84% of the total jobs in the UK shipping industry. There is a higher proportion of female seafarers in Ratings (18%) and Uncertificated Officer (35%) roles.

 

The DfT provide an additional estimate of the number of UK seafarers working on ships that are not owned by members of the UK Chamber of Shipping but this does not change the Ratings numbers, only the number of Officers. 

 

The total number of UK resident Ratings employed in the UK shipping industry increased by 480 (4.9%) in 2023, to 10,180. The DfT statistics also record that only ten people started a Deck Rating apprenticeship in 2023. The statistics do not record engine room or catering apprenticeship starts, which again demonstrate the effect of years of neglect under Conservative Governments, despite their lofty statements about seafarers and apprenticeships before and after the P&O Ferries scandal.

 

I met the Maritime Minister in the Labour Government, Mike Kane MP last month. In a wide-ranging discussion, RMT repeated the seriousness of the ongoing threat to the UK economy and security from the chronic shortage in the domestic supply of Ratings across all departments and across all sectors of the shipping industry. 

 

However, what these grossly unequal statistics show more than anything is the vital importance of organising all Ratings across the UK shipping industry. As a start, we need 100% of UK Ratings to be RMT members. I repeat my call to the Maritime and Docks BGM in Belfast in May for Shipping Branches and Regional Councils to significantly increase our membership amongst Ratings in the shipping industry. Building that industrial strength will give your union the muscle to end the era of super exploitation of Ratings and deliver more jobs and training to UK seafarers.

 

I would be grateful if you could bring the content of this circular to the attention of all members in your Branch.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Michael Lynch

General Secretary

 

 

 

^[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seafarers-in-the-uk-shipping-industry-2023

^[1] Table SFR0303