Why work at sea?
To escape poverty
For some, seafaring may be the only work they can get that pays
a living wage. 
 Men sign up for ship service |
This was true of many isolated communities around the British
Isles in centuries gone by. For instance, in North Devon, West
Wales or the West Coast of Scotland there was little industry, and
not enough farm work. So many men had little choice but to go to
sea. Whole communities came to look to the sea for employment. The
men who did well came to own their ships, employing others from
their locality. The tales told by retired mariners encouraged the
young to take up seafaring. Schools would be set up to teach
navigation and help aspiring officers get their certificates of
competency or `tickets`. Today, seafarers are still often drawn from parts of the world
where there are few other opportunities for work. For instance,
many come from the Philippines, and other parts of Asia. Since the
end of communism, well-trained seafarers from Eastern Europe have
found good opportunities in working on ships owned in Western
Europe. For the shipowners, the attraction of these seafarers is
lower wages and therefore reduced operating costs. However, doubts have been raised about the standards of training
of seafarers from some countries. The majority are trained in
well-run establishments, but there is sometimes ready sale of fake
certificates of competency.
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