Seafarer
A Seafarer is any person who is employed, engaged or works in any capacity on board a ship — the officers and ratings of the deck, engine and (on some ships) catering departments who operate the world's merchant fleet. Roughly two million seafarers crew the ships that carry the vast majority of global trade, often from a wide range of nationalities on a single vessel.
Seafaring is a demanding profession: seafarers live and work aboard for months at a time, far from home, subject to the sea, isolation and long hours. Their rights, working and living conditions, wages, hours of rest, and repatriation are protected internationally by the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC), and their training and certification are governed by the STCW Convention. The importance of seafarers — and their vulnerability — was highlighted by the crew-change crisis, when hundreds of thousands were stranded aboard beyond their contracts. Seafarers are the human foundation of shipping, and their welfare, safety and management (crewing) are central concerns of ship management. Without them, global trade stops.
Ships move the world, but seafarers move the ships — two million people crewing the vessels that carry most of global trade, often for months at sea. Their training (STCW) and rights (MLC) are internationally protected for good reason, as the crew-change crisis starkly showed. Their welfare and management are at the heart of responsible ship operation.
Who counts as a seafarer?
Any person employed or working in any capacity aboard a ship — officers, ratings and other crew across the deck, engine and catering departments.
What protects seafarers' rights?
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) protects their working and living conditions, wages, rest hours and repatriation; STCW governs training and certification.