Condition assessment and prospects for the development of crewing services

Abstract

The international shipping industry is responsible for the carriage of around 90% of world trade. Shipping is the life blood of the global economy. The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the oil that fuels your automobile- everything has been transferred via ships. In fact, most of the products in your vicinity now have probably been on a ship at some point! There are over 50,000 merchant ships trading internationally, transporting every kind of cargo. The world fleet is registered in over 150 nations, and manned by over a million seafarers of virtually every nationality. Yet, it is all too easy to overlook the very real human element of shipping. The Seafarers. Whether the crew member be an Officer, Master/ Captain or Able Bodied Seaman everyone plays a vitally important role in our day to day life and crewing agencies are like a collecting link between seamen and shipowners. The purpose of the article is identifying theoretical background and genesis of crewing services; determining the pattern of maritime business impact on labor maritime market segment infrastructure and disclosure of addiction of efficient operation of a shipping company from quality of crewing services and also assessment of the current state and identification of the main factors which allow for crewing agency to develop own integration potential in order to state one of the leadest company in the maritime business. Considering the rapid development and scientific and technical process of the shipbuilding industry, growing number of new recruiting companies, hazardous job and “human factor”, it is allowed to courageously declare that a main key to success of crewing agency is quality selection of qualified maritime staff who directly affects competitiveness of the shipping company. Being a key link in the chain of "shipowner-crewing agency-maritime staff", the crewing company must have a managing approach and development plans for the improvement of quality of provided services for seafarers and shipowners.

Keywords

• crewing agency, shipowner, maritime business, the development of crewing services