Accredited official statistics

Seafarers in the UK Shipping Industry: 2019

UK seafarers active at sea and non-UK seafarers qualified to work on UK registered vessels in 2019.

Documents

Seafarers in the UK Industry: 2019 tables

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Details

In 2019:

  • an estimated 22,440 UK seafarers were active at sea
  • around half of the total UK seafarers active at sea were working as officers (10,320 certificated and 1,310 uncertificated)
  • 1,670 officer cadets were in training
  • there were 800 new entrants under the SMarT1 scheme

The majority of UK seafarers active at sea were male (84%), with most female seafarers working as uncertificated officers or as ratings. Females accounted for 3% of certificated officers in 2019.

These annual statistics are compiled from certification data held by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, and data collected via the UK Chamber of Shipping Seafarer Employment Survey. Further details of the coverage of the statistics, uses and limitations can be found in the statistical release.

We welcome any feedback you have on this release via our contact details.

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Updates to this page

Published 11 December 2019

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