Seafarer Statistics 2015

Circular No: NP/044/16

TO ALL BRANCHES, REGIONAL ORGANISERS, REGIONAL OFFICES, REGIONAL COUNCILS, & NATIONAL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE.

Our ref: S1/1/15

28th January 2016

Dear Colleagues

Seafarer Statistics 2015

Further to circular no. NP/018/15 of 6th February 2015, the Department for Transport annual Seafarer Statistics for 2015 was published this week, showing a modest 4.8% (410) increase in the number of UK Ratings working at sea.

Whilst this is the first increase since 2011 in the number of UK Ratings, there were still over 3,000 fewer UK Ratings at sea than in 2011. The 2015 increase was mainly limited to the catering and onboard service departments, with the number of Deck Ratings roughly the same and the number of UK Engine Ratings falling by 13% to 740.

The total number of UK seafarers increased 2% to 23,380, although the Government’s statistics only cover the period to June 2015, so do not take full account of job losses in the latter half of 2015 amongst seafarers in the offshore supply sector, resulting from the persistently low oil price which continues to affect the sector.

It is also a source of serious concern that the number of UK seafarers, ratings and officers, working in the deck and engine departments has fallen 18% over the past decade. Allied to the ageing profile, the future of UK deck and engine ratings in the industry remains under serious threat.

A copy of the 2015 Seafarer Statistics is attached and can be downloaded from here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/seafarer-statistics-2015

The union will continue to work to fight social dumping in the UK shipping industry and to promote training and employment opportunities for UK based ratings working in all sectors of shipping, using all political and industrial means at our disposal.

It would be appreciated if you could bring the content of this circular to the attention of all branch members and you will be updated with further developments.

Yours sincerely
 
Mick Cash
General Secretary