The maritime industry is facing a growing workforce challenge – and it is not simply about the number of people available to work at sea.

The latest BIMCO/ICS Seafarer Workforce Report 2026 highlights a widening gap between the supply and demand for qualified officers, alongside a surplus of ratings. For shipowners, managers and HR and crewing teams, the findings underline the importance of investing in recruitment, training and retention now to meet the industry’s future workforce needs.

A global workforce of more than 2.5 million

According to the report, an estimated 2.57 million seafarers are currently available to serve the internationally trading merchant fleet.

This comprises approximately:

• 1.05 million officers
• 1.52 million ratings

The number of STCW-certified officers has increased by around 22% since 2021, while the number of ratings has increased by approximately 47%.

However, growth in supply has not kept pace with demand.

The global merchant fleet has grown to an estimated 85,148 ships – a 14% increase since 2021. Demand for STCW-certified seafarers has increased by 35% over the same period, reaching approximately 2.55 million in 2026.

And this is where the workforce challenge becomes particularly interesting.

A shortage of officers but a surplus of ratings

The report estimates that the industry currently has a shortage of around 39,100 officers, while there is a surplus of approximately 56,890 ratings.

That represents a significant change from previous years.

Officer demand has increased by 23.1% since 2021, while demand for ratings has risen by an even greater 46.3%. However, the supply of ratings has grown sufficiently to exceed current demand, while the supply of officers has fallen increasingly short.

For employers, this creates a very different recruitment picture depending on the role.

The report found that companies are experiencing the greatest difficulty recruiting engineering officers and deck officers, while ratings are generally easier to recruit.

This makes the development of the officer pipeline particularly important.

The 2030 challenge

Looking ahead, the numbers become even more significant.

The BIMCO/ICS baseline forecast estimates that by 2030 the industry will require approximately 1.16 million officers and 1.56 million ratings.

To meet projected demand, an additional 22,747 officers will need to enter the workforce every year until 2030 – equivalent to an average annual increase of around 2%.

For ratings, the equivalent requirement is approximately 8,475 additional people per year, or around 0.5% annual growth.

In other words, the industry cannot rely solely on today’s workforce to meet tomorrow’s demand.

Recruitment and retention strategies will need to work hand in hand.

Building the next generation

There is some encouraging news.

The number of officer cadets has increased since the previous report, with the ratio of officer cadets to qualified officers improving from 1:4.8 in 2021 to 1:3.8 in 2026.

The availability of cadet berths has also improved, continuing a trend identified in previous reports.

But increasing the number of cadets is only one part of the solution.

The industry needs to attract people into maritime careers, provide them with the right training and experience, and then create an environment in which they want to stay.

That means thinking beyond recruitment campaigns and considering the entire employee journey – from cadetship and first appointment through to promotion, leadership development and, potentially, transition into shore-based roles.

Diversity and demographics

The report also provides insight into how the seafarer workforce is changing.

It finds that the increase in the supply of female seafarers has been concentrated particularly in officer positions, while the number of female ratings has generally remained stable among respondents.

Age is another important consideration.

The largest proportion of management-level officers falls within the 31–40 and 41–50 age groups, while operational-level officers are particularly concentrated in the 31–40 bracket.

For employers, understanding these demographic trends is increasingly important when considering succession planning, leadership pipelines and future skills requirements.

Recruitment is only part of the answer

Perhaps the biggest message from the report is that solving the seafarer workforce challenge will require more than simply recruiting more people.

Training, retention and career development will all be critical.

The report’s recommendations include promoting maritime education and training, encouraging careers at sea and providing information about potential transitions into shore-based roles. It also calls for recruitment and retention levels to be monitored closely so that workforce strategies can respond to changing supply and demand.

For maritime employers, this reinforces the importance of understanding what attracts people to the industry – and, just as importantly, what makes them stay.

Competitive pay, career progression, development opportunities, wellbeing, working conditions and strong leadership can all form part of that wider employee proposition.

What does this mean for maritime HR?

The BIMCO/ICS findings provide a clear indication that talent strategy needs to be a long-term priority for the maritime industry.

With demand for officers continuing to grow, employers will need to consider how they can:

• Build stronger cadet and graduate pipelines
• Develop existing ratings and officers into future leadership roles
• Invest in technical and professional training
• Improve retention and career progression
• Attract a more diverse workforce
• Plan succession before critical skills become scarce
• Highlight the opportunities available both at sea and ashore

The workforce challenge is therefore not simply a crewing issue. It is a people and HR issue.

As the global fleet continues to evolve, the organisations that understand their future workforce requirements – and start building the talent pipeline now – will be better placed to respond to changing demand.

The BIMCO/ICS Seafarer Workforce Report 2026 provides the data. The next challenge for maritime employers is turning those findings into effective recruitment,

Information provided by BIMCO & ICS Seafarer Workforce Report