Seafarer Statistics In The EU In 2015

The amendments to Directive 2008/106/EC introduced by Directive 2012/35/EU established a mechanism for gathering information on certificates and endorsements issued to seafarers by the EU Member States. The objective is to use it as a primary source of data for statistical analysis and for use by EU Member States and the Commission in policy-making.
The statistical review presented in this report is based on data extracted from certificates and endorsements registered by EU Member States until 31 December 2015 and recorded in the STCW Information System (STCW- IS). It represents a snapshot of the European labour market in terms of the number of seafarers holding valid certificates and endorsements in 2015. This is the second year in respect of which such data is available. The first statistical review for 2014 was published by EMSA on 8 July 20161. As more data is collected in the coming years, this will make possible trend analysis that should hopefully contribute to a better understanding of the maritime labour force in Europe.
The data included now in the STCW-IS shows that 182,662 masters and officers hold valid certificates of competency (CoCs) issued by EU Member States while another 102,861 masters and officers hold original CoCs issued by non-EU countries with endorsements issued by EU Member States attesting their recognition (EaRs). Overall, the end of 2015 saw slightly above a quarter of a million masters and officers as potential manpower to serve on board EU Member States flagged vessels.
The five EU Member States that had more masters and officers holding CoCs issued by them in 2015 were the United Kingdom (31,448), Poland (20,700), France (13,552), Croatia (13,350) and Spain (11,697). In addition, the five EU Member States that had more masters and officers holding EaRs were Malta (63,142), Cyprus (29,654), the United Kingdom (15,779), the Netherlands (10,104) and Luxembourg (6,761). Finally, the five non-EU countries which had more masters and officers holding their CoCs recognised by EU Member States were the Philippines (33,966), Ukraine (23,192), Russian Federation (16,381), India (7,626) and Turkey (6,377).