Deciding to go on board and leave his family behind is a tough decision a seafarer makes. However, there are also many reasons why, after some time, a seafarer decides to quit his job. Some of these reasons include the following:
They live unsustainable lifestyles.
Filipinos are known to be a race where keeping family ties is as essential as breathing daily. Being away from a seafarer’s loved ones is torture for him, and therefore, a Filipino seafarer finds it very uncomfortable and lonely to be away from his family. Thus, this is one of the many and most common reasons seafarers quit their jobs.
Strict maritime laws and hectic life onboard.
Tough maritime laws have made the lives of seafarers more and more stressful. Despite being known to be hard workers, several Filipino seafarers, especially those at the management level, choose to quit because the job has become unbearable and difficult. Upsurges in paperwork, advanced training guidelines, new codes, and more demanding safety and environmental laws have made the life of these seafarers extremely hectic onboard.
Politics at work.
Differences in opinions cause disputes and misunderstandings onboard a cruise ship, tanker, or bulk carrier. This makes it even harder for a seafarer as politics and conflicts make work more challenging and affect the socialization of the group of people on board for an extended period.
Inadequate social life.
Every single individual is brought up in a social environment, especially Filipinos. They are used to hanging around with numerous comrades. When these people are suddenly confined into the ship’s corners, adverse effects such as frustration, loneliness, and homesickness start to sink in. A sense of emptiness is felt, and lack of interaction and limitation in movement further make a seafarer’s life more miserable. Keeping a calm and focused mind takes a lot of courage and mental steadiness. The inability to cope with this kind of life is why many seafarers quit.
Health issues
For a seafarer to be able to go on board, he needs to meet stringent medical and health requirements. However, life on board the ship is not even close to healthy. Seafarers suffer erratic sleeping schedules, extreme working stress, unfavorable environment, inaccessibility to fresh foods, and inadequate medical facilities that affect a seafarers’ health drastically. Seafarers diagnosed with health conditions are obliged to quit sailing.
Better opportunities elsewhere.
If given a chance that he’d be able to provide for his family without having to travel frequently, then he would give up this job. Seafarers immediately choose to quit their job when offered a chance to work in a shipping company or allowed to work on land related to the shipping and maritime industry with a wage at par with that on the sea.
Reduction of crew members.
When an economic crisis occurs, companies utilize every technique possible to cut back expenses and overhead costs. One of the ways shipping companies came up with to cut off expenses is to reduce the number of crew members hired. This results in an increase in workload without any increase in remuneration.
Risks and hazards at work.
Seafarers transporting high-risk materials such as flammable liquids, explosives, radioactive waste, and similar types are often safeguarded with protective suits and other safety measures. Yet, accidents can happen. Those who ply routes where pirates prowl the seas, such as in the Arabian Sea near Somalia, may trigger fear and those who can’t take the risk to quit their jobs.
Conclusion
Life can be tough as a seafarer. The loneliness struggles at the workplace, and challenges that were not anticipated before boarding a ship can sometimes be unbearable. Therefore, families should extend a warm connection through simple communication, expressing gratitude for their hard work and inspiring them.
What about discrimination in all aspects?,,,such as in race,rank,and most worst in foods,,
definitely true……
Agree!!!
Agree!!!
its not just eight reasons,,.. how about low salary, low food budget just $10 or lower a day depending on the company,more unnecessary upgrading courses you have to be takin instead of spending time to your family when your in vacation, and all these training they required to every seafarer the manning agency has 5 to 10% commission. seafarer are not dumb not knowing it, maybe government is dumbest not regulating private training centre in the phil, they say seafarer are one of modern day hero dam it let just simply say!! MILKING COW….of training center, marina, manning agency so many other requirement killing them ask those hungry seafarer standing by kalaw luneta i a sure you your 8 reasons will become 800 reasons,.. i am 1 of them..
now i know why my father quit
My father only quits when his sons became a doctor, an industrial engineer and a pharmacy who now lives and works in the US.
agree!! and you can add more!!
like what some of my veteran crew said “seafaring is not fun anymore”
daming trainings and reqrmnts…
daming trainings and reqrmnts…
training requirement is too much. Just how long can a seafarer have a vacation, 3 months maximum depending on the savings for their families while they’re not on board and then, yong time na para na lang sana sa family, aagawin pa ng mga trainings. Kada baba, may training e halos parepareho rin lang naman ang module.
training requirement is too much. Just how long can a seafarer have a vacation, 3 months maximum depending on the savings for their families while they’re not on board and then, yong time na para na lang sana sa family, aagawin pa ng mga trainings. Kada baba, may training e halos parepareho rin lang naman ang module.
training, training, training, and more new training……..
same old trainings but they change the name just to let us seafarers take it all over again.!!! .for money…marina etc!!! some say a mariners life is good!! they just dont know how hard the life on board!!!!! tsktsktsk.. i agree with all d comments!!!!!
Age limit
Connivance of the Training Centers, Shipping Agencies and MARINA are one of the factors why seafarers are forced to quit because with too much requirements and without any support from the corrupt government because they threat only the seafarers as a “MILKING COW” and they don’t care.
There is only 1 reason, and that is MARINA…