A 2.56% pay rise for able seafarers has been agreed in Geneva, Switzerland, at a meeting of the International Labor Organization in an agreement between ship owners and seafarers unions from around the world. The pay rise from US$673 per month to US$690 per month will take effect on 01 January 2026, subject to the approval of the ILO’s governing body which meets in November this year.
That figure will rise by just under 1.3% to US$704 as of January 2027, and will rise again by just over 1.56 to US$715 per month in January 2028.
The three year deal amounts to a pay rise of just over 6.2%.
Maritime transport is the only industry with a formally recognised global minimum wage. It has been in place for seafarers since 1958. The Maritime Labour Convention (2006), mandates that the minimum monthly basic wage for an able seafarer be set periodically by the ILO’s Joint Maritime Commission, which met recently on 14 and 15 April 2025. The next ILO minimum wage review is scheduled to take place by the Joint Maritime Commission in the first half of 2028.
The dialogue brought together ship owners, who were coordinated by the International Chamber of Shipping, and seafarers’ unions, who were coordinated by the International Transport Workers’ Federation.
Agreement has been welcomed by both sides.
Pål Tangen of the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, and who was the spokesperson for the shipowners group during the meeting, said: “This agreement strikes a careful and considered balance between recognising the vital contribution of seafarers and maintaining the commercial sustainability of the global shipping industry. Seafarers play an indispensable role in keeping world trade flowing, often under tough and unpredictable conditions. These are not ordinary times, and this resolution reflects our respect for their service, while ensuring that shipowners can continue to operate in a highly competitive and volatile global market.”
Mark Dickinson, of the European maritime and inland navigation trade union, Nautilus International, who spoke for the trade unions during the meeting, commented that the welfare of seafarers had been improved through “pay rises that both retain and increase the value of the ILO AB minimum wage, taking into account increases in the cost of living since 2022.”
