InterManager's Kuba Szymanski: The Seafarer Shortage Is Not Recruiting — It's Training and Decent Work

InterManager Secretary-General Kuba Szymanski, writing for Splash247, directly challenges the increasingly entrenched “global seafarer shortage” narrative: the real issue is not employing more people but properly training, supporting and protecting the workforce already in the industry. For Szymanski, shipping uses the phrase “seafarer shortage” as if the only answer were hiring more crew, when the crewing market actually shows a much more complicated picture: on one side fierce competition for highly experienced officers and crew who meet the requirements of top-quality operators, on the other skilled and experienced seafarers struggling to find safe, decent and reputable employment.

This structural strain has deepened with recent geopolitical shifts: the Russia-Ukraine war, tensions involving Iran and the United States and sanctions affecting Venezuela have changed trade patterns and reduced activity in areas where many companies previously operated. For some shipowners and operators, work in these regions has become too risky, too restricted or simply impossible; smaller companies feel the pressure and scale back, and this contraction affects not only the employer but seafarers and their families. Georgia is the clearest example: Georgian seafarers have served the industry for years, often on fleets and trades now affected by war, sanctions or political risk; as those opportunities disappear, many are left with fewer choices and some feel forced to accept employment on sanctioned or questionable vessels — exposing themselves to unpaid wages, abandonment, poor conditions, criminalisation and lack of support.

Szymanski's proposed solution is direct: there may be a shortage at the very top end of the market where demand for highly trained, experienced and immediately deployable crew is intense, but that does not mean a lack of seafarers — it means not enough is being done to develop the people who are already available. Where seafarers lack specific skills, they should be trained; those with experience only on smaller, less technical vessels should be helped to transition to better systems and standards. Some larger companies are looking at new crewing regions such as Ghana; Vietnam is investing in retraining experienced fishermen for the merchant navy — the right approach if done responsibly, but simply adding more people without protecting standards risks pushing wages down further and making vulnerable seafarers even more vulnerable. The call to industry: look again at pools such as Georgia — there are skilled, experienced and motivated seafarers who deserve a fair opportunity in reputable fleets; ignoring unemployed, abandoned, unpaid or pressured seafarers while continuing to search for the “perfect candidate” is not solving a shortage — it is creating one.

Key Takeaways:
1. InterManager Secretary-General Kuba Szymanski (Splash247): the real issue is not employing more seafarers but properly training, supporting and protecting the workforce already in the industry.
2. Twin reality in the crewing market: fierce competition for highly experienced officers at the top, while skilled experienced seafarers cannot find safe, decent and reputable work.
3. Russia-Ukraine war + U.S.-Iran tensions + Venezuela sanctions have changed trade patterns; smaller operators are scaling back and seafarers and their families take a direct hit.
4. Georgia case: experienced Georgian seafarers left without options end up on sanctioned or questionable vessels — exposed to unpaid wages, abandonment, criminalisation and lack of support.
5. Solution: train missing skills, support transitions from smaller to larger vessels; new pools such as Ghana / Vietnam fisherman-to-merchant-navy are right — but adding people without protecting standards pushes wages down further.