Crew study of seafarers: a methodological approach to the global labour market for seafarers

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.