Beyond unfair hiring practices, European seafarers face other serious challenges:
Shrinking crews: Merchant ships are operating with fewer crew members, a trend set to worsen with automation and digitalisation.
Restricted shore leave: Heightened security and rapid cargo turnover mean less time in port, reducing opportunities for rest, support, and recovery.
Poor safety record: Seafarers experience higher rates of death, injury, and illness compared to land-based workers.
Criminalisation and abandonment: In cases of accidents, seafarers are increasingly criminalised and often left stranded without legal protection or support.
The solution to the exploitation of seafarers is to regulate competition so that companies compete on quality, not cost-cutting. The ETF defends job security for national seafarers and safeguards Europe’s maritime skills and knowledge.
We push for high EU standards and a level playing field for all operators in European waters. Our goal is to strengthen the resilience of European shipping and ensure that fair, high-quality practices are rewarded.
This is how Europe can drive a race to the top on social, environmental, and safety standards — delivering real benefits for the 272,000 seafarers we represent.
A just transition in EU shipping means tackling social dumping and guaranteeing fair conditions for all crew, regardless of nationality or residence. As the industry goes greener, seafarers must be supported with future-proof careers, new skills, and opportunities to adapt to digitalisation and emerging technologies.
For the 2022–2027 period, the ETF is committed to placing seafarers at the centre of a fairer, greener, and more sustainable maritime sector.
Our priorities include:
The ETF also remains firmly engaged in the global fight to end flags of convenience and will intensify its work to strengthen the social rights of European seafarers.
Social dialogue refers to a structured discussion between the organisations representing workers and employers, known as social partners. The EU supports social exchange at the European level, and the ETF Maritime Transport Section is a recognised social partner for the maritime sector.
Together with the maritime employers’ organisation, the European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA), we sit on the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee (SSDC) for Maritime Transport. In the SSDC, we try to persuade ECSA that we can and should work together to meet the challenges facing the European maritime sector. In particular, we aim for agreements that ensure a level playing field for European seafarers to safeguard jobs and career development, decent terms and conditions, a high level of knowledge and training, and the enjoyment of social rights and adequate social protection.
Our members democratically shape our policies and activities. Strategic priorities are defined by a Steering Committee, composed to ensure geographical balance and equal representation of officers’ and ratings’ unions.
The EU Committee supports the Maritime Transport Section by focusing on EU-related issues and guiding our work in the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for Maritime Transport.
The ETF Secretariat in Brussels provides both political and practical support.
