Indian Seafarers to Sail on South Korean Ships

India has signed an MoU with South Korea that allows for the mutual recognition of Certificates of Competency of seafarers. 

The agreement will open up new employment opportunities for Indian seafarers on South Korean ships. It was signed by Shri Nitin Gadkari, Ministry of Shipping, Road Transport & Highways and Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation and his Korean counterpart Kim Young-choon at a ceremony in Busan this week.

South Korean owners currently have over 500 internationally-sailing ships, and India has around 154,000 seafarers, over 70,000 of which are officers. 

The number of Indian seafarers employed on Indian and foreign-flagged ships reached 150,000 for the first time last year, with 37,259 getting jobs in the last three years. India is the fifth largest supplier of officers after China, the Philippines, Russia and Ukraine, according to BIMCO's Manpower Report 2015. 

Gadkari is on a four day visit to South Korea to strengthen the bilateral cooperation between the two countries in shipping, ports, inland waterways, highways, river interlinking and infrastructure sectors.