Make a list for us, based on you experience.
That would be helpful.
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It is true that the supply and demand curve applies to ALL shipping companies including the ones I worked for and the ones you worked for.
Itâs basic economics.
.
From here:
That would be three lists; the good, the bad and the ugly
Since there are literally thousands of shipping companies in the wold, (hundreds in each category) it would take too long to list them all.
But there are some general trends:
Most Scandinavian companies treat their staff and crews well, regardless of their nationality.
The same goes for most shipping companies owned and operated from NW European countries.
The large and reputable Ship Management companies are also on the Good list, while some of the smaller would be found on the Bad and even on the Ugly list.
AFAIK Canadian companies are among the Good employers but, based on what is said on this forum, US companies appear to be mostly bad. (??) The OSV and Drilling companies especially so.(??)
PS> Many US flag ships in international trade are actually owned and operated by subsidiary of foreign companies. Mayb they treat their crews better(??)
The US finance companies that own ships under foreign flag will in most cases use foreign Ship Management Companies to operate their assets.
My own experience??
I have sailed for shipping companies in all these categories and under different flags.
I have seen even more of each as a freelance surveyor/consultant/advisor in the Marine Offshore, Drilling and Construction industries for the last 42 years of my working life.
Supply and demand for seafarers is dependent on many things:
Some flag states requires seafarers to be of a specific nationality and only accept credentials issued by their own Maritime Authorities.
( I.e. a protected and limited market)
PS> Some flag states only require the Master to be of same nationality.
Open Registers allow seafarers of different nationalities to serve on their vessels, provided they have the necessary qualifications and training per STCWâ10.
(i.e a wider and much larger market)
Conclusion;
You have been operating in a small protected market, (by own choice)
I have been operating in the wider market as a seafarer and in the worldwide freelance market after that.
Both are based on Supply and Demand, but not the same Supply and not the same Demand.
PS> You could have joined âmyâ market if you wanted, but âyourâ market was (and is) not open to me, or any other non-American.
The company I worked for managed both U.S. flag and non-U.S. flag ships.
The chief and I met with the manager of both sides on numerous occasions. Last time I talked to him he told us the wages for officers on the foreign flag side had doubled over just a couple years and were on track to double again.
Regardless of any attempts to obfuscate the issue thereâs no reason to believe that the doubling of mariners wages wouldnât go a long way to alleviate future shortages of mariners.
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Which one is it:
Or:
The first is the punch line of a joke.
I was of the impression that this was the joke?:
This is no longer a serious discussion, what youâre doing here is just trolling.
I think you should close this thread, since it is full of irrelevant posts.
Thatâs all he ever does
No, not at all.
I also post things that MAY be of interest to some, although it isnât about the US, or US Mariners. Here is an example:
This is one of the reasons the pool of seafarers, incl. Officers, are drying up.
PS> If you are not interested just donât open the link.
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Then there isnât going to be a personnel shortage because theyâre paying whatâs necessary to entice new people to enter the maritime field.
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I think you will find they do, I cant speak about box shipping but PSV and AHTS.
When I joined a semi sub in SE Asia the Americans on board were just gob smacked how pathetically the vessels were operated.
They said we ( Company man I assume) have sacked every company that has been here and the one Singaporean company that was fantastic ( Norwegian family owned) they used in the Philippines they wont get back ( meaning Shell wont pay)
When there was a DP conference in Singapore we all got together to discuss the best crew stories and one item was how low a pay crew got in SE asia along with the skill set that went with thatâŚwhich always seemed to matchâŚ
The white board in the bridge of our semi had 2 items, stupidest thing a Captain had told us and in minutes on the vhf, without a stop, how long a Captain tried to make excuses about why they couldnt do something.
Once we ran out boat companies the company man just told them not to send that captain back.
Boats so badly crewed they could only operate in daylight hours.
When you talk with crew from those vessels especially in the Thai fields they hit rigs every day but nothing ever gets reported.
So for rig supply in asia, plenty of people that will work for next to nothing.
There COULD be some people who have other priorities than just MONEY!!!
Long time away from home and family, short time in ports and no shore leave, long hours and work pressure and the risk of being arrested for things they have no control over, just MAYBE count as a disincentive.
The old reasons for going to sea, like âadventuresâ and seeing foreign countries are no longer relevant.
If you want adventures at sea, take a cruise,
If you want to visit foreign countries, fly there in an airplane.
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And the right amount of money will convince almost anyone to deal with those disincentives.
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A lot of companies seem to take their Fillipino crew for granted, they seem to think that they will be able to pay them low wages forever and keep them on board forever then cream of the profits generated by them.
The Philippines is a developing country that is getting richer, obviously crew from there will be less willing to be treated as slaves as time goes on.
There seems to be one rule for Fillipinos and one rule for everyone else, for all the talk about systemic racism within the shipping industry the systemic mistreatment of Filipinos seems to go unchanged.
It is shocking that within the shipping industry Filipino seafarers generate huge profits for shipping companies from developed countries whilst enduring such terrible pay and conditions.
The corporate fat cats in rich countries are happy to skim off the cream generated by the Filipinos who do the actual work for very low pay and incredibly long contacts.
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Itâs not just the Filipinos by a long shot.
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