Importance of the Working Force of Filipino Seafarers In the World
Fleet.
Up to the early 1910's, most shipowners crewed their ships with
seafarers from their own countries. in some cases, non-national seamen were used but these
seamen were for the most part from countries that had strong ties to the country of the
shipowner. A good example is the use for many years of Indian ratings serving under
British officers on British flag vessels.
However, the past 20 years saw two major factors influence the
geographical supply of seafarers and the skills required to man the world maritime fleet:
- the downturn in shipping in the 1970's; and
- the technological advancement in ship design, construction and
operation.
Although other factors such as government regulations, age of ships and
crew turnover had some bearing on crewing requirements, these two major factors had the
greatest impact on the current trends in shipping.
The pressure exerted by the oversupply of ships, low freight rates and
high operating costs in the 1970's forced shipowners to remove their ship from the
traditional national registries and re-register their vessels in countries which allowed
use of non-national crews. Change of registry, or flagging out was viewed then as a
short-term solution to the problems of finding low manning levels and cheaper crews.
Instead of worrying about the problems of national recruitment, training and union
concerns the owners adopted a system which allowed them a choice of crew nationalities. As
a result, the supply of crew shifted from traditional European sources to the Far East and
Indian subcontinent.
Crew from these countries offered the best crewing alternative in terms
of rates of pay, experience and availability. By matching certain nationalities of
officers and ratings, owners achieved substantial reductions in crewing costs. The crewing
industry in countries like the Philippines, India and south Korea experienced tremendous
growth. In the Philippines for example, the deployment levels for seamen grew from 50,604
in 1984 to 111,212 in 1990 to 165,401 in 1995.
According to a recent study recorded by BIMCO and the ISF on the
world-wide demand for and supply of seafarers, crew from the Far East and Indian
subcontinent today account for 39 percent and 6 percent of the supply of seamen in the
world respectively. On the other hand, crew from Eastern Europe accounts for 13 percent
and from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries
32 percent of the worldwide supply.
