Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what her Department’s estimate is of the number of seafarers employed in the workboat sector.

The Department for Transport, in collaboration with the Workboat Association and the Chamber of Shipping, is working to expand the Seafarer Employment Survey in 2025 to include Workboat Association vessel-owning members. The results of the expansion of the survey will be used to provide a more accurate picture of employment in this sector in the future.

At present, the Department does not have a published estimate of the number of seafarers employed in the workboat sector.