Let’s start with the bigger picture. How would you describe the current crewing landscape?
The crewing landscape is evolving rapidly. We’re seeing major shifts towards more structured, automated, and modern processes, whether it’s crew recruitment, rotation planning, or welfare.
But two core challenges remain: first, we’re facing a serious crew shortage. Last year’s research showed a shortfall of around 40,000 qualified officers. We’re managing for now by asking seafarers to stay onboard longer and shortening their time ashore. But it’s not sustainable.
The second big challenge is retention. When you combine a shortage of crew with retention issues, wages inevitably go up.
And wages are the single biggest component of a ship’s operating expenses. Right now, we’re seeing annual wage inflation of at least 2%, which puts pressure on OPEX overall.
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How are you adapting to these challenges? Are you looking beyond traditional sources of talent?
Yes, we can’t just rely on traditional supply countries like India, the Philippines, or China. We and many others are exploring alternatives. One of the biggest shifts we’ve made is increasing the number of female seafarers. Globally, women make up half the population, so it doesn’t make sense to ignore them.
At Hafnia, over 10% of our crew today, more than 500 out of 5,000, are female. To support this, we’ve improved ship infrastructure and launched several initiatives to ensure their wellbeing.
We even have six vessels today crewed 50-50 male and female. We see it as an experiment, and we want to run these ships for around three years. Then we’ll share the learnings with the wider industry. There’s still a perception that seafaring isn’t for women, but we’re actively challenging that.
Are expectations different for the new generation of seafarers joining today?
Absolutely. The older generation tends to stick to traditional ways of doing things. But today’s ships have modern engines and advanced technology.
The younger seafarers are more willing to learn, more open to trying new things, and more interested in challenging the old ways. That generational shift is already happening. And it's driving a wider openness to digital transformation.
Let’s talk about payments. Why are crew payments such a critical part of seafarer welfare—and a challenge for shipping companies?
Payments are absolutely central to crew welfare and financial security. But the traditional way of handling them isn’t working for either side.
For companies, it’s a huge administrative burden. We’re constantly getting emails from crew to update bank details or split their salary across different accounts. And from the crew’s perspective, they want more control over their money.
We’ve been using MarTrust for three years now, and the feedback has been very positive. With the e-wallet, crew feel they own their funds.
They can use their card in emergencies, pay for hotels or alternative flights, and don’t need to wait for an agent or call the office. It’s a lot more efficient for everyone involved.
Geopolitics have disrupted crew payments in recent years. Did that influence your move to MarTrust?
Yes. When the war in Ukraine broke out in 2022, it became very difficult to pay our Russian and even some Ukrainian seafarers.
Sanctions made things very uncertain. Even our payroll team didn’t know if it was safe to send money to certain banks. That’s when we turned to MarTrust, and it simplified everything. We could focus on more strategic work instead of navigating banking restrictions.
We saw similar issues during COVID. Cash advances couldn’t always be delivered to ships.
If we had solutions like e-wallets then, it would have made it much easier for crew, especially once shore leave was allowed again. They could’ve just used the card or withdrawn from an ATM.
Cash to master remains a significant cost for many operators. What’s been your experience?
Before MarTrust, we were sending around $25,000 to $30,000 in cash per ship every month. Multiply that by 120 ships, and we’re talking about $35–$38 million in cash annually. Most of that was for crew to go ashore.
Now, with digital wallets, we’ve cut that down significantly. Crew still need some petty cash, maybe $300–$400 per month, but the reduction in insurance and agency costs has been substantial.
You originally rolled out MarTrust for Russian and Ukrainian crew. What prompted the fleet-wide expansion?
After three years of positive results, we asked, why not expand to all nationalities? But we didn’t rush.
We held crew conferences, invited MarTrust representatives, and shared real examples from seafarers who were already using it.
When it comes to salaries, crew are understandably cautious; every dollar counts. We addressed their concerns head-on and made it clear: if something didn’t feel right, we wouldn’t go ahead.
How are you managing the change across such a large crew base?
Change management is all about information sharing. We decided on a phased rollout, starting with 10% of the fleet, then scaling up over three to four months.
We matched the MarTrust offer to our current benefits: today, crew get three company-paid transfers per month, and that won’t change with MarTrust.
We ran tests with different nationalities to ensure there were no negative impacts compared to our existing payroll system. And the feedback has been positive. Once crew understand the process, they see the benefits.
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