Seafarer Salary Guide: How Much Should Your Wages Be?

Do you agree that salary is the main motivation or reason why Filipinos pursue to become seafarers? I personally believe it is. Despite the hardships seafarers encounter at sea, they continue to strive and perform their duties very well. Even though the job requires to be away from their families, seafarers are willing to sacrifice for the sake of their loved ones. So, how much compensation do they really receive for their hard-work and sacrifices? Check the seafarer salary guide below to have an overview on how they should be compensated.

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) is an international trade union federation of transport workers’ union. It promotes respect for trade union and human rights worldwide, that includes salary of seafarers. If your ship is covered by an ITF agreement, you are entitled to an ITF wage. Please see the table below.

The table of wages above only represents the basic monthly salary of seafarers working in a ship under an ITF agreement. Basic salaries not under ITF agreement may differ. Take note also that the table above is only for the basic salary. A seafarer’s wage usually includes overtime pay, leave pay, owner’s bonus, seniority bonus, rejoining bonus, and more. Therefore, the total monthly salary will be much higher.

Total salary also differs depending on the type of ship, company, and position. The table above will give you an overview or estimate of how much seafarers earn. As an example, a Chief Engineer of a bulk carrier earns an average of $8,000 per month more or less.

There it goes, that’s how much seafarers earn in exchange for the lost time with their loved ones and dangers encountered at sea. I firmly believe that even though the compensation is great, a seafarer should not spend all their lives at sea. They should set their goals straight and make an exit plan when the right time comes. I’ve written a different article about the right time to quit being a seafarer to give you my personal take on when to quit. Please check it out.