A Study on the Improvement of Employment System for Ocean-going Seafarers

Seafarer market structure analysis of Korean merchant shipping in COVID-19

“…Foreign seafarers started working onboard in the Korean flagged ships from 1992 partially due to the agreement between seafarer union and shipping companies in Korea, and with tacit understanding of Korean government on the agreement ( Jeon, 2017 ). The seafarer labour market in Korea is liberalized more after 1992: additional allowance of foreign officers onboard and introduction of foreign seafarer quota by shipping company in 2005, and expansion of employment of foreign ratings in 2007.…”

“…Therefore, the demand of Korean seafarers from Korean maritime business has been decided by different factors: the number of the Korean flagged ships, the size of ships, the necessary number of seafarers per ship, Korean policy on the employment of foreign seafarers, and the content and course of career advancement. A temporary employment contract of Korean seafarers by Korean shipping companies for a definite period such as six months adds a complication to the demand ( Jeon, 2017 ). The rate of regular employment of Korean seafarers in the Korean flagged ocean-going and other ships operated by Korean ocean-going shipping companies as listed in Table 4 records 57.5% in 2016, although it fluctuates each year.…”