Manning Agency
A Manning Agency (or crewing agency) is a company that recruits, supplies and manages seafarers to crew ships on behalf of shipowners and ship managers. Concentrated in major seafarer-supplying nations — the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, China and others — manning agencies maintain pools of qualified crew and match them to vessels needing officers and ratings.
Their services span recruitment and vetting, verifying certificates and competence, arranging medicals, training, contracts, travel and visas for crew changes, and payroll and welfare administration. They are the practical mechanism through which the global, multinational crewing of ships is organised, working closely with the owner's or manager's crewing department. Manning agencies must operate within the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which regulates seafarer recruitment and placement to protect crew from abusive practices (such as illegal fees). By providing a reliable supply of properly certificated, fit-for-duty seafarers, manning agencies are essential to crew management and to keeping ships safely and legally manned. They are a key part of the shipping labour market.
Ships draw their crews from a handful of labour-supplying nations, and manning agencies are the machinery that finds, vets and delivers those seafarers to vessels worldwide. They keep ships legally and safely manned with certificated crew, under MLC protections against abuse. For owners and managers, a reliable manning agency is essential to crewing the fleet.
What does a manning agency do?
Recruits, vets, certificates, trains and supplies seafarers to crew ships, and handles their contracts, travel, payroll and welfare for owners and managers.
How are manning agencies regulated?
Under the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), which governs seafarer recruitment and placement to protect crew from abusive practices such as illegal fees.