Last Year, 60,454 Employed Seafarers: Decrease in Koreans, Increase in Foreigners

Employment Status of Seafarers (As of the End of 2019).

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Last year, the number of Korean employed seafarers decreased while the number of foreign seafarers increased.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced on the 22nd that it has published the "2020 Seafarer Statistical Yearbook," which includes the status of domestic and foreign employed seafarers and wage levels.

The Seafarer Statistical Yearbook is an annual statistical data collection on seafarers published by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. It contains various statistics related to seafarers, such as the status of employed seafarers as of the end of the previous year, age and ship type distribution, and wage levels.

According to the 2020 Seafarer Statistical Yearbook, as of the end of 2019, the total number of employed seafarers in South Korea was 60,454, a 1% decrease. Among them, Korean seafarers numbered 34,123, down by 618 from 2018, while foreign seafarers increased by 10 to 26,331.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries estimated that the decrease in the number of Korean seafarers was due to the reduction in the number of national vessels, including the aging coastal vessels and the reduction of nearshore fishing boats (a decrease of 42 vessels (0.7%) compared to the previous year).

By industry, nearshore fishing boats had the highest number of employed seafarers at 13,666 (40%). This was followed by foreign-going vessels with 8,079 (23.7%), coastal vessels with 8,100 (23.7%), overseas employment vessels with 2,909 (8.5%), and deep-sea fishing vessels with 1,369 (4%).

The average monthly wage of Korean seafarers was 4.74 million KRW, an increase of about 1.1% from 4.69 million KRW at the end of 2018. Compared to 3.64 million KRW at the end of 2010, it rose by 30.2%. The inflation rate during the same period was 15.2%.

By industry, the highest average monthly wage was for deep-sea fishing vessels at 7.4 million KRW. This was followed by overseas employment merchant ships (7.19 million KRW), overseas employment fishing boats (7 million KRW), foreign-going vessels (6.03 million KRW), nearshore fishing boats (3.84 million KRW), and coastal vessels (3.79 million KRW).

Regarding the employment age of Korean seafarers, those aged 30 or younger accounted for 20.2% (6,894), those in their 40s to 50s accounted for 42% (14,328), and those aged 60 or older accounted for 37.8% (12,901).

The Korean Seafarer Statistical Yearbook can be accessed on the National Statistics Portal and the Korea Seafarers' Welfare and Employment Center website.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.