The International Labour Organization (ILO) has concluded the latest round of minimum wage negotiations for able seafarers at a meeting of the Subcommittee on Wages of Seafarers of the Joint Maritime Commission (JMC), held in Geneva on 14 and 15 April 2025.
This critical bipartite dialogue brought together shipowners and seafarers’ unions from around the world, coordinated by the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) and the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
Maritime transport remains the only industry with a formally recognised global minimum wage, in place for seafarers since 1958. ILO’s 2006 Maritime Labour Convention, mandates that the minimum monthly basic wage for an able seafarer be set periodically by the JMC.
Following the negotiations, a resolution was adopted setting out the updated minimum wage levels, to be submitted for approval by the 355th session of ILO’s Governing Body, in November this year.
According to ICS press release, the newly agreed figures are as follows:
- US$690 as of 1 January 2026.
- US$704 as of 1 January 2027.
- US$715 as of 1 January 2028.
The updated wage structure represents an increase of more than 6% and builds on the previous 3-year agreement concluded in September 2022, which set the minimum at US$673 as of 1 January 2025.
The negotiations in Geneva took place against the backdrop of the escalation in global trade tensions, the ICS said.
In their opening remarks, both sides expressed concern about the current cloud of uncertainty and the prospect of a potential full-scale trade war, which could divide the world and reshape global trade, with shipping caught in the crosshairs and therefore impacting the lives and livelihoods of the world’s nearly two million seafarers.
