EMSA: Seafarer Statistics in the EU 2024

June 13 ------ The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has released the Seafarer Statistics in the EU report, where it explores various statistics and trends regarding seafarers during the year 2024.

The report draws on data from certificates and endorsements registered by EU Member States, as well as Iceland and Norway, up to 31 December 2024. The information was subsequently transferred to and recorded in the STCW Information System (STCW-IS) by 31 December 2025, providing a comprehensive snapshot of the European maritime labor market and the number of seafarers holding valid qualifications during 2024.

According to the latest figures, 177,378 masters and officers held valid Certificates of Competency (CoCs) issued by EU Member States at the end of 2024. A further 136,660 masters and officers held original CoCs issued by non-EU countries that had been recognized through Endorsements attesting Recognition (EaRs) issued by EU Member States.

Taken together, these figures indicate that nearly 314,000 masters and officers were available to serve on board EU Member State-flagged vessels by the close of 2024, underscoring the scale of the maritime workforce supporting the European shipping industry.

The five EU Member States with the highest number of masters and officers holding CoCs issued by them in 2024 were, by order of magnitude:

• Norway

• Poland

• Croatia

• Italy

• Romania

The five EU Member States with most masters and officers holding EaRs issued by them, also by order of magnitude, were:

• Malta

• Cyprus

• Portugal

• Norway

• Denmark

Finally, the five non-EU countries which had more masters and officers holding CoCs recognized by EU Member States were the Philippines, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, India and Türkiye.

Masters and officers holding valid certificates of competency in 2024

The total number of masters and officers holding valid CoCs at EU level was 177,378. Of these, 3.84% held CoCs entitling them to serve in both the Deck and Engine Departments. In addition, just a very limited number of them (0.06%) held CoCs issued by more than one EU Member State, which had already been identified in previous reports, showing that not many changes have occurred during the last decade.

Gender distribution

The information on gender was available for 166,183 masters and officers, representing 93.69% of the total number of officers at EU level holding a CoC. Considering the total number of masters and officers whose gender was known, it can be stated with a level of confidence of 99% that the percentage of female masters and officers was 2.83% ± 0.08% compared to 96.98% ± 0.08% of male masters and officers.

The information presented shows that male masters and officers follow a general distribution by department (60% entitled to serve in the Deck Department and 40% entitled to serve in the Engine Department), while most female masters and officers (87.57%) were entitled to serve in the Deck Department.

Distribution by nationality

The information on nationality was available for 171,813 masters and officers, representing 96.86% of the total number of officers at EU level holding a CoC.

In addition to nationals of the EU Member States, 2,054 nationals of 89 non-EU countries held valid CoCs as masters or officers issued by EU Member States. When grouping these non-EU countries by region, it results that 17 were located in Europe, 20 in Asia, 30 in Africa, 23 in the Americas and 4 in Oceania.

The distribution of the non-EU nationals holding valid CoCs issued by the EU Member States presented shows that 66.80% of them were nationals of countries located in Europe.

Age distribution

The average age of masters and officers holding valid CoCs was 43.8 years. Whereas the under-25 age group counted 6,292 masters and officers, all other age groups had a relatively uniform distribution, each counting between 16,275 and 26,512 masters and officers, which represented 9% to 14% of the total number:

• 80.03% of officers holding certificates issued under Chapter VII, “Alternative certification”, of the STCW Convention were younger than 35 years of age;

• The masters and officers certified under Chapter II (Deck Department) and Chapter III (Engine Department) of the STCW Convention were evenly distributed throughout the age groups other than the 18–24 year age group;

• 56.31% of masters and deck officers and 54.08% of engineer officers were younger than 45 years of age.

Source: safety4sea.com