The worldwide population of seafarers serving on internationally trading merchant ships is estimated to be in the order of 466,000 officers and 721,000 ratings The majority of the shipping industrys ratings are recruited from developing countries, especially the Far East and South East Asia. The Philippines and India are very significant maritime labour supply nations, with many seafarers from these countries enjoying employment opportunities on foreign flag ships operated by international shipping companies. China has also seen a large increase in the number of seafarers, but at the moment most of these work on the Chinese fleet, meeting domestic requirements. Eastern Europe has recently become an increasingly large supplier of seafarers with high numbers from countries including the Ukraine, Croatia and Latvia. Other major labour supply countries include Greece, Japan, Russia and the United Kingdom. Ref-International Chamber of Shipping- 2010
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 02:47:32 +0000