Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the reasons for the change in the number of rating recorded in table SFR0303 of the Seafarers in the UK Shipping Industry: 2019 statistical release of 11 December 2019.

The figures shown in table SFR0303 of the UK Seafarer Statistics are based on data collected via the annual Chamber of Shipping (CoS) Seafarer Employment Survey. During the data collection period, the Department liaises closely with the CoS to ensure the quality and completeness of the data is as high as possible, with a response rate of around 90% of eligible companies achieved in 2019, similar to previous years. The survey does not provide complete coverage of UK seafarers active at sea but does represent the best current estimate.

However, trends over time can be impacted by changes in membership or operations. For example, if a large company decided to move its operations or crewing outside the UK, this could result in large fluctuations in the figures.

The Department has introduced measures to support greater training opportunities for ratings. We continue to work with stakeholders to promote the training and employment of all UK seafarers.