ARTICLE IN PRESS

Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330

Crew study of seafarers: a methodological approach to the global

labour market for seafarers
Bin Wu*, Nik Winchester
Seafarers International Research Centre (SIRC), Cardiff University, P.O. Box 907, Cardiff CF10 3YP, Wales, UK
Received 6 May 2004; accepted 18 May 2004

Abstract

In the context of the complexity of the global labour market for seafarers, crew study of seafarers (CSS) provides a means to
access, analyse and compare information on active seafarers world-wide. This paper outlines the methodological parameters of CSS.
It is argued that CSS provides a distinctive methodology enabling the exploration and specification of key characteristics of this
labour market, for example: the distribution of world seafarers by nationality; the recruitment preferences of ship owners or
managers; the organisation of multinational crewing patterns and the dynamics and constraints behind seafarer movement between
foreign and national fleets. The principles and applications of CSS are illustrated by the case of Chinese seafarers, utilising a
combination of a crew list analysis and an onboard survey in the port of Hong Kong.
r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Global labour market; Crew study of seafarers (CSS); Chinese seafarers

1. Global labour market, seafarer mobility and survey
approaches
In the context of the establishment of a global labour
market for international shipping, a methodological
issue has arisen in respect of the access to reliable,
accurate and timely information concerning world
seafarers. There are a number of difficulties associated
with conducting a labour survey of this population,
namely: the complexity of the global labour market; the
mobility of contemporary seafarers and the limitations
of conventional survey approaches.
In terms of the complexity of the global labour
market, it displays a number of key characteristics:
* seafarers of any nationality are potential employees;
* efficient transnational linkages between crew man-
agers, manning agents and national labour markets;
* no formal barriers to entry beyond compliance with
international regulations on certification;
* widespread multinational crewing;
*Corresponding author. Tel.: +44-29-2087-6429; fax:+44-29-2087-
4619.
E-mail address: wub@cardiff.ac.uk (B. Wu).
* highly susceptible to fluctuations in world trade;
* low and diminishing correspondence between the flag
of the ship and crew nationality;
* absence of system-wide regulation [1]:
Theoretically, the development of a global labour
market means employment opportunities for all quali-
fied seafarers world-wide beyond their national fleets.
However, patterns of employment vary greatly with
seafarer nationality. This depends on a number of
factors, e.g. the demand for seaborne transportation in
the prevailing environment of world trade, linkages
between crew managers, manning agents and national
labour markets, and forms of multinational crewing
patterns adopted by shipping companies. From an
analytic viewpoint, employment opportunities are
shaped by the relation between national and global
labour markets which, from the seafarer’s perspective,
raise the question of how they approach and respond to
the recruitment opportunities within these two markets.
According to Lane [1], these issues cannot be easily
addressed due to both the diminished correspondence
between the flag of the ship and crew nationality and the
absence of system-wide regulation.

0308-597X/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2004.05.006
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
324 B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330
In contrast to a ‘single-tier’ labour market, where
vessel and crew nationality are congruent, the establish-
ment of the global labour market means an emergence
of a ‘two-tier’ market in which a suitably qualified
seafarer can, in principle, make a choice between
employment within their national fleet (defined as
nationally controlled vessels) or foreign ships (those
controlled elsewhere). A ship owner or crew manager
can select and group seafarers irrespective of nationality
according to manning cost, legal constraints and
onboard management experience. A consequence of
this ‘two-tier’ market is the increasing mobility of
seafarers, not only in an expansion of geographic
boundaries of their employment but also the flow of
their recruitment between national and foreign fleets.
Hence, the methodological question is raised of the
appropriate means and methods to analyse their move-
ment between these two markets.
Conventional approaches to the analysis of labour
market for seafarers tend to remain at the level of the
nation state, with analyses of supply and demand [2]. In
terms of addressing the ‘two-tier’ market, there are key
limitations in such a strategy. Supply side analyses imply
that the global labour market can be understood as the
sum of all seafarers from individual countries world-
wide. Irrespective of the significant disparities in the
availability, comparability and quality of information
across nation states, this approach is unable to reflect
both the difference in the demand preferences of
international shipping companies and the movement of
seafarers between national and foreign fleets. Demand
approaches have viewed international shipping compa-
nies as the primary source of global labour market
information. Putting questions of cost and the quality of
the data produced to one side, this approach lacks the
capacity to reflect the division and linkages of seafarer
supply between national and global labour markets.
In order to overcome these problems, the Baltic and
International Maritime Council and International Ship-
ping Federation report [3] developed a model which
attempts to bring both demand and supply information
together for the purpose of analysing and predicting the
global labour market for seafarers. Whilst the BIMCO/
ISF survey should not be undervalued, it does, however,
neglect the division between the national and global
market. As a result, it is difficult to pinpoint the real
balance of the demand and supply of seafarers at the
regional or national level. Additionally, since its
information has a restricted base, namely, national
administration and shipping companies, it reproduces
the problems noted in both the demand and supply
approaches. Hence, the model itself cannot be applied to
a regional or national level with any great degree of
rigour.
These methodological dilemmas require resolution,
with the provision of an approach that can take into
account the erosion of national boundaries at sea and
measure the mobility of seafarers world-wide. The
following sections outline an alternative approach,
termed crew study of seafarers (CSS), that attempts to
solve these problems.
2. Crew study of seafarers: principles and framework
Differing from approaches that emphasise either data
on the supply side drawn from seafarers’ home countries
or demand information collected from shipping compa-
nies, CSS focuses on the interconnections and interfaces
between them. By collecting, analysing and modelling
crew information world-wide, it attempts to not only
create a complete picture of world seafarers but also
provide detail of seafarer mobility between home and
international fleets.
At the conceptual level, all world seafarers onboard
international merchant vessels at any time could be
approached and identified by both their nationality and
the nationality of ships on which they are aboard. This
enables a conceptual distinction between the two
categories of ‘home’ (or national) and ‘foreign’ (or
global) for both seafarers and ships. In the context of a
two-tier structure of both demand and supply sides,
crew patterns emerge from crew data analysis. This
covers three aspects of active seafarers world-wide:
distribution of world seafarers, crewing patterns used by
ship owner/managers and the flow of selected seafarers
between national and foreign fleets (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1 outlines the foundation, process and outcomes
of CSS which is based upon three information sources:
world fleet register information, collection of crew lists
world-wide and onboard surveys. Comprehensive in-
formation on the world fleet provides a base for
calculating the demand of world seafarers by flag or
country of economic benefit (CEB). The collection of
crew lists world-wide provides access to reliable and
accurate information on active seafarers. Situated
between these two modes of analysis, onboard surveys
offer opportunities for researchers to undertake detailed
studies on seafarers in situ for a specific topic or research
purpose. In contrast to the standardised and limited
information appearing on crew lists, onboard surveys
can be applied to selected nationalities or target groups
for in-depth analysis of specific questions. Whilst the
former is restricted to quantitative data, the latter can
provide both quantitative (questionnaire survey) and
qualitative (onboard observation, in-depth interview)
information. Through a rigorous approach to research
design and sampling procedure, these methods should
be intertwined, thus providing a coherent and cohesive
analysis of the global labour market.
Once issues relating to accessing of information
sources are resolved, the possession of sufficient cover-
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B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330 325

Crew patterns
Distribution
Crewing
Flow

Crew data
Identity Demand
Supply Recruitment
For national Demography For nationals
For foreigners
For foreign Experience
Opinions

Information Sources

Onboard surveys
Crew lists world-wide
World fleet information

Fig. 1. Crew study of seafarers (CSS): sources, process and outcomes.

age of crew data sets/database is central to create ‘Crew
Patterns’. The information contained within the crew
data category depends upon particular research ques-
tions and topics; however, it contains certain core
variables:
* Identity refers to both the nationality of seafarers and
their employers, and the nature of their employment
relationship. This can be utilised to measure sea-
farers’ movement, or flow, across company or
national boundaries.
* Recruitment refers to information concerning their
existing or current employment, e.g. ship owner and
manager’s nationality, flag register, vessel type, crew
size and crew member information such as rank and
nationality.
* Demography refers to the baseline information of
seafarers such as age, place of birth, education,
marital status, family size, and their economic and
social background.
* Experience contains crew members’ history, seafaring
experience and career development.
* Opinions of seafarers refer to their assessment,
approach or reflections on both their seafaring career
and seafaring in general, e.g. working environment,
wages, recruitment and welfare.
Crew data can be used for a wide range of research
purposes. However, it produces three key outcomes,
subsumed under the category of crew patterns, namely:
* Distribution of world seafarers by nationality and
ship owner/fleet manager.
* Crewing, detailing items such as crew size, multi-
national crewing pattern and rank composition.
* Flow outlines the movement of seafarers between
employment contracts and national and foreign
fleets.
In contrast to current approaches to the demand and
supply of seafarers, CSS has the ability to conceptualise
and analyse the ‘two-tier’ market structure existent for
seafarers. It can also provide detailed information of
movement between these tiers in any selected nationality
or target group. In practice, CSS consists of two related
elements: crew list collection and onboard surveys. The
following sections illustrate the feasibility and utility of
CSS using the case of Chinese seafarers. Section 3
utilises crew list analysis, whilst Section 4 outlines the
results of an onboard survey carried out in the port of
Hong Kong (hereafter termed ‘HK’).
3. Chinese seafarers (1): crew list analysis
There is significant disagreement over the size and
employment location of Chinese seafarers. Li and
Wonham [4] argue that China has become the largest
seafarer supply country in the world, whilst Gong [10]
suggests that China is set to become Asia’s second
largest supplier. In terms of numbers, the BIMCO/ISF
survey report (BIMCO/ISF, 2000) claims that the total
supply of Chinese seafarers is 82,000, only half the
official figure of 164,500 [5].
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326 B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330
These divergent accounts reflect the differences in the
definition of the category of ‘Chinese seafarers’, ranging
from ‘Chinese nationals employed as seafarers’, to
‘Chinese seafarers working for foreign-owned vessels’.
In contrast, CSS makes such distinctions at the
conceptual, rather than empirical, level and can
encompass all these accounts at the point of analysis
according to research needs. By applying the principles
of CSS outlined, both the demand for and supply of
active Chinese seafarers can be distinguished into two
groups: national and foreign fleets. Their role in the
global labour market can be analysed through the
collection of the data indicated in Fig. 1. Accordingly, a
study on Chinese seafarers requires three types of data:
(1) information on the world fleet; (2) crew list data and
(3) an onboard survey of Chinese seafarers.
A comprehensive database of world merchant fleets
[6] is read to hand over. However, until recently a
cognate database with information on crews did not
exist. The Seafarers International Research Centre
(SIRC) at Cardiff University has established a global
seafarer database based upon collection of crew lists
from the main seaports world-wide [7,2]. It contains
data on over 15,000 vessels and 300,000 seafarers from
1993 to 2002 with detailed information on both ships
(type, size, flag, fleet manager and CEB) and their crews
(age, rank, nationality and place of birth). Linking these
two databases together, it is possible to gain the whole
picture of the global labour market and the position of
Chinese seafarers within it. To illustrate the value of
CSS, the following considers the mobility of Chinese
seafarers.
Taking the most recent cohort of the SIRC database
(collected in March 2002), Table 1 shows the distribu-
tion of sampled Chinese seafarers by the flag and the
CEB that vessels served on. In terms of the former, the
most common flag for Chinese seafarers is Panama
(34%), which is 10% points higher than the PRC
national flag. In contrast, the most common CEB for
Chinese seafarer employment is China (45%), leaving
the remainder to ‘foreign’ fleets (for the purposes of this
analysis, HK and Taiwan (hereafter termed TW) vessels
are treated as ‘foreign fleets’ due to the significant
Table 1
Chinese seafarers by flag and country of economic benefit (CEB)
Rank By flag Per cent By CEB Per cent
1 Panama 34.2 China 44.8
2 China 23.8 HK 17.9
3 HK 20.3 TW 8.4
4 Liberia 5.8 Singapore 7.4
5 Singapore 4.8 Japan 5.1
Subtotal 88.8 Subtotal 83.6
Total cases 6165
Source: SIRC Global Seafarer Database (2002).
differences in their economic systems as compared with
China).
From the perspective of the CEB, the fact that over
half of the sample is employed within the ‘foreign fleet’
confirms the assumption that there is a two-tier labour
market for Chinese seafarers, i.e. national and global.
However, the sample bias within the SIRC data set
results in an underestimation of the proportion of
Chinese seafarers onboard the national fleet. For
example, of the 341 vessels with Chinese crew appearing
in the SIRC data set, only 131 were denoted as having a
CEB of China. Taking into account over 5000 vessels in
the data set (representing 17% of world fleet over
1000 gt in that year), the Chinese fleets are under-
represented in the SIRC data set.
Despite this limitation, SIRC’s data set offers valu-
able insights into the employment structure of Chinese
seafarers. Returning to Table 1, it can be seen that a
large number of Chinese seafarers onboard foreign-
flagged vessels were serving on ships beneficially owned
in China. Such a result is not surprising when due
consideration is given to the ‘‘flagging out’’ of the PRC-
owned fleet. According to the Ministry of Communica-
tion of China [8], in 2000 there were 2525 ocean vessels
totalling 37 million DWT, owned in China. Of those,
1986 vessels utilise the national flag (46% of its total
ocean fleet by DWT), whilst the remaining 539 ships
appear on open registers (54% of total DWT). This
suggests that ‘flag’ is not a good indicator to the ‘true’
nationality of a ship’s identity in the context of the
widespread use of open registers. Instead, CEB is a more
accurate measure of the nationality of a vessel.
In terms of recruitment opportunities outside the
PRC fleet, Fig. 2 shows that HK and TW are the two
main destinations for Chinese seafarers, accounting for
over 52% of the total, followed by Singapore (14%) and
Japan (10%). Furthermore, East Asian fleets as a whole
Others
14%
USA
Hong Kong
5%
35%
Greece
5%
Japan
10%
Singapore
14% Taiwan
17%
Fig. 2. Chinese seafarers onboard foreign fleets (N ¼ 3125). Source:
SIRC Global Seafarers Database (2002).
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B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330 327

Table 2 50
Officer Ratings
Nationality composition by selected fleet (2002, %) 45
40
Fleet Chinese HK/TW East Asiaa Others Total cases
35
HK/TW 32.7 23.5 0.9 42.9 4947 30

Percent
East Asiaa 6.4 0.7 12.9 80.0 13,055 25
Others 1.2 0.1 0.6 98.1 79,168 20
15
Source: SIRC Global Database (2002). Row as 100%. 10
a
East Asia here include Japan, South Korea and Singapore only. 5
0
Chinese HK/TW Others
account for over three-quarters of the sample onboard Nationality
foreign fleets. This indicates the limited scale and extent
Fig. 3. Nationality composition of HK/TW fleets (2002). Source:
of Chinese participation in the global labour market. SIRC Global Seafarers Database (2002).
Focusing on those foreign fleets which recruit Chinese
seafarers, Table 2 shows that Chinese seafarers have
become a major source of labour for HK- and TW-
owned fleets, with approximately one-third of their crew Table 3
coming from mainland China. In contrast, Chinese Multinational crew pattern of Chinese seafarers
seafarers play a marginal role outside HK and TW Multinational Ships Seafarers % of ships % of seafarers
fleets.
1 177 4482 51.9 74.5
The importance of Chinese seafarers in the HK and 2 81 978 23.8 16.3
TW fleets is illustrated by Fig. 3 which shows that 30% X3 83 555 24.3 9.2
of the officers serving onboard these fleets originate
from mainland China, a similar level to HK and TW Total 341 6015 100 100
seafarers. In terms of ratings, a different picture emerges Source: SIRC Global Seafarers Database (2002).
with mainland Chinese seafarers contributing 35%,
twice the level of HK/TW nationals.
CSS can be used not only to measure the scale and 100%
90%
extent of the involvement of a selected nationality in the
80%
global labour market but also to explore relevant factors
70%
which may influence their participation. An important 60%
>=3

characteristic of the global labour market is the use of 50% 2 nat

multinational crewing patterns. In this context, CSS can 40%
1 nat
be used to analyse limitations in the deployment of the 30%

Chinese seafaring resource. Table 3 shows that of the 20%

6015 Chinese seafarers onboard 341 vessels in the SIRC
sample, three-quarters were onboard single nationality
vessels, with only one in 10 working within a multi-
national environment (defined as three or more nation-
alities within the crew).
This preponderance of the single nationality crewing
pattern amongst Chinese seafarers significantly differs
from their Indian and Filipino counterparts. Fig. 4
shows that, in contrast to Chinese seafarers, nearly half
of Indian and Filipino seafarers work within a multi-
national crewing pattern. With reference to the deficit of
communication skills possessed by Chinese seafarers,
this result seems to suggest that a lack of multinational
working environments may be an impediment to
Chinese seafarers in improving their English.
In sum, the SIRC global seafarer database enables: (1)
the identification of the position of Chinese seafarers in
the global labour market; (2) an analysis of the demand
structure and geographic location of their employment
beyond national fleets; (3) the identification of the
multinational crewing patterns, a key indicator regard-
10%
0%
CHINA INDIA PHILIP
Fig. 4. Distribution of selected nationalities by multinational crewing
pattern. Source: SIRC Global Seafarers Database (2002).
ing the interface of Chinese seafarers with the global
labour market; and (4) a comparison of the recruitment
and deployment pattern between Chinese seafarers and
other nationalities within the context of global competi-
tion. The analysis of the SIRC global seafarer database
confirms the existence of a two-tier labour market and
shows the distribution of Chinese seafarers within these
tiers; it also indicates a number of factors (e.g. single
nationality crewing patterns) which may have negative
impacts on their participation in the global labour
market. The standardised format of crew lists, however,
cannot provide detailed information about the relation
between national and global labour markets, which is
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328 B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330

addressed by the onboard survey detailed in the Table 4

following section. Chinese crews by flag and ship owner (2003, unweighted)

FLAG Frequency Per cent Owner Frequency Per cent

Panama 167 33.8 China 286 57.9

4. Chinese seafarers (2): onboard survey PRC 97 19.6 HK 89 18.0
HK 44 8.9 TW 73 14.8
Whilst the SIRC crew list survey offers an overall St. Vincent 39 7.9 Japan 15 3.0
picture of Chinese seafarers in the global labour market, Cambodia 31 6.3 Malaysia 12 2.4
NIS 28 5.7 Singapore 11 2.2
it cannot provide details of the dynamics and constraints
Other 88 17.8 S. Korea 8 1.6
facing their participation. In order to obviate this
limitation, an onboard survey was undertaken in the Total 494 100 Total 494 100
port of HK in the winter of 2002/2003. This survey
Source: Author’s HK survey.
focussed on the flow of Chinese seafarers within the two-
tier labour market. The key questions included: how
does the two-tier market influence their employment?
What strategies do they adopt to access recruitment
Starting from three years ago, our company has
opportunities in both markets? What are the dynamics
increasingly recruited mainland Chinese seafarers,
or constraints behind their movement between the tiers?
resulting in a replacement of Filipinos. At the
The following paragraphs concentrate on the functional
retirement of Taiwanese senior officer, it becomes
linkages and interfaces between crew list analysis and
obvious that they [Chinese seafarers] will take those
onboard surveys (for a full analysis of the results of the
senior positions as well. So our company holds a
survey, see [9]).
rather positive approach to retaining, training and
HK survey used both quantitative and qualitative
promoting Chinese seafarers. To use an example of
methods to collect data on Chinese seafarers onboard
the company’s strategy, they will be asked to fill a
national and foreign ships. All ocean going vessels with
form to indicate whether they would like to come
Chinese crew, which were berthing in the anchorage
back to this company after their shore break. If yes,
areas of HK port, were targeted for this survey. If more
most of them come back because the company has
than one eligible vessel was present at the same time, the
signed a long term agreement with those [crewing]
priority was given to the ‘foreign’ ship in terms of either
agencies.
flag or fleet manager. In total, 49 vessels, with 12
different flags, were selected and Chinese members of
the crew were given a questionnaire survey to complete. The phenomenon of the two-tier market raises
Where possible, in-depth semi-structured interviews questions about the employment structure of seafarers
were also carried out onboard these vessels. Whilst all and the mechanism by which they ‘flow’ between these
Chinese crew onboard were asked to participate in the tiers. Such issues cannot be answered through the
questionnaire survey, a number failed to do so. In total, analysis of crew lists. Hence, the need for onboard
494 Chinese seafarers participated in the survey, surveys which offer the opportunity to observe and
representing a response rate of 52% of those ap- analyse the mobility of Chinese seafarers. In contrast to
proached. the permanent and life-long employment previously
In comparison with crew list analysis, the distribution experienced by seafarers within state-owned enterprises
of the survey sample can be examined in terms of both (SOE), a new group, termed as ‘non-state-owned’ (NSO)
the flag of the vessels and the nationality of the ship seafarers, has arisen to take employment opportunities
owner. Table 4 shows nearly 60% of the survey sample within both the domestic and global labour market [9].
worked onboard nationally controlled vessels, compared Fig. 5 shows that 70% of SOE seafarers served onboard
with only 20% on nationally flagged vessels. This result the national fleet, whilst 80% of NSO seafarers worked
confirms the importance of the two-tier labour market for the foreign fleet.
for Chinese seafarers. Taking into account the explicit Fig. 5 suggests that: firstly, in response to the two-tier
sample bias towards ‘foreign’ ships in conducting the labour market, there are two types of seafarer employ-
survey, it is likely that the proportion of Chinese ment, SOE and NSO seafarers and secondly, whilst both
seafarers working onboard foreign-owned vessels is groups of seafarers can, theoretically, be involved in
overestimated. either tier, the majority of SOE seafarers rely on the
Concerning the demand for Chinese seafarers outside national fleet, in contrast to NSO seafarers who tend to
nationally owned fleets, the centrality of the HK and function within the global labour market. In terms of
TW fleets is confirmed by the onboard survey. This structural changes within the Chinese seafarer employ-
point is illustrated by the comments made by a captain ment system, Fig. 6 shows an increasing trend of
of a major Taiwanese shipping company: seafarers moving from SOE to NSO employment.
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330 329

100% Table 5
Length and frequency of sample onboard by employment and
80% recruitment
60% Foreign Category Item Employment Recruitment Total
PRC
40% SOE NSO PRC Foreign

20% Length (month) Mean 9.0 10.4 8.9 10.1 9.4

Std. Dev. 3.9 5.1 3.9 4.6 4.3
0% N 267 112 207 172 379
SOE NSO
Employment Division Frequency (time/year) Mean 0.67 0.83 0.56 0.81 0.75
N 99 89 44 144 188
Fig. 5. Recruitment targets by employment division (N ¼ 492).
Std. Dev. 0.30 0.24 0.34 0.24 0.29
Source: Author’s HK survey.
Source: Author’s HK survey.

16

14
and implementation of each survey. Based upon the
12
collection and compilation of crew lists world-wide, the
Number of Cases

10 global seafarer database contains quantitative data that

8 is comprehensive and, due to international standardisa-
6 tion, enables cross-national comparative analysis. In
4 contrast, the onboard survey is both focused on a
2
nationality and research question, leading to the
0
production of quantitative and qualitative data. In
1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 addition, crew list analysis concerns the consequences
Year of the two-tier market whilst the onboard survey deals
Fig. 6. Growing movement from SOE to NSO seafarers (N ¼ 111). with the dynamics or constraints behind the seafarers’
Source: Author’s HK survey. movement between these tiers.

5. Conclusions and implications

Of those factors driving seafarers’ flow from SOE to
NSO employment, ‘job security’ was cited with the most
frequency. To quantify this issue, participants in the
questionnaire survey were asked to provide detailed
information of their last three contracts including: job
title, nationality of ship owner, sign-on and sign-off
days. Table 5 shows that there is a significant difference
between SOE and NSO seafarers in terms of the length
of their last contract at sea and frequency of signing a
contract each year. On average, SOE seafarers spend 9
months onboard, 1 month shorter than their NSO
counterparts. In addition, the former may sign two
contracts every 3 years whereas the latter reports on
average one contract each year. This difference is related
to a divergence in recruitment opportunities. According
to Table 5, there are more employment opportunities on
foreign fleets than PRC ships.
The onboard survey does not conflict with but
complements the crew list survey. Firstly, both methods
target active seafarers onboard international merchant
fleets by collecting data from seaports rather than
shipping companies. Secondly, sample bias can be
minimised if appropriate sampling procedures are
adopted at the data collection stage. Thirdly, they
complement each other due to the differences in design
The emergence of the global labour market for
seafarers raises methodological issues in respect of the
access to reliable, accurate and timely information
concerning world seafarers. Limited to active seafarers
onboard international merchant fleets in a particular
time period, CSS provides a means to access, collect,
analyse and compare information relating to world
seafarers. Differing from survey methods such as
national censuses or international company surveys,
CSS focuses on the collection and compilation of crew
information which concerns the interconnection and
interfaces between the demand and supply of seafarers.
Taking Chinese seafarers as an example, this paper has
attempted to clarify the principles of the CSS, to
indicate its rationale of the global labour market survey,
and to demonstrate its procedures and potential
applications. A number of conclusions can be drawn.
Firstly, CSS begins from collecting and compiling
crew information from three sources, world fleet
registers, crew lists and onboard surveys, which results
in crew data including: national identity of ships and
seafarers, recruitment information, demographic profile,
seafarers’ experience and opinions. The outcomes of
CSS are ‘Crew Patterns’ consisting of the distribution of
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
330 B. Wu, N. Winchester / Marine Policy 29 (2005) 323–330
seafarers by nationality, multinational crewing pattern
and flow pattern between national and foreign fleets. As
a result, CSS brings together the different salient factors
relating to the labour market for seafarers (it should be
noted that the methods utilised should form a coherent
strategy particularly in reference to issues of sampling).
Secondly, the value of CSS can be underlined by the
following factors: the complexity of the global labour
market as it relates to the diminishment of national
boundaries at sea; the mobility of seafarers world-wide
and the limitations of conventional survey methodolo-
gies rooted at the level of the nation state. These factors
have arisen in the context of the emergence of two-tier
labour market, in which both demand for and supply of
seafarers can be categorised into national and foreign
sectors. Recognising this transition from a ‘one-tier’
national labour market in the past, CSS offers an
effective means to: unify data collection and compila-
tion; produce cross-national comparison of recruitment
patterns at the level of both demand and supply;
monitor the flow of seafarers between the two tiers
and combine quantitative and qualitative information
with reference to a selected group or under the auspices
of a particular research theme.
Thirdly, the feasibility of CSS can be illustrated in the
analysis of Chinese seafarers. By combining crew list
analysis and an onboard survey in the port of HK, this
paper has: confirmed the existence and importance of
the two-tier labour market for Chinese seafarers;
discovered the linkages between recruitment in the two
tiers and their respective employment situations; and
explored the relevant factors behind the mobility from
national to global markets and from SOE to NSO
employment.
Finally, the quality of CSS depends, however, upon
many factors, including: gaining access to main seaports
world-wide and ships for fieldwork; the rigour under-
pinning the sampling procedure and methods for crew
list collection and onboard survey; the representative-
ness of the sample in terms of world and national fleets
and data mining strategies and methods. Whilst these
questions raise a number of empirical challenges to
researchers, and ones that have only been partially
solved within the HK survey and SIRC Global Seafarers
Database, CSS outlines a valid, coherent and rigorous
basis for future research on the global labour market for
seafarers.
References
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