CMSI China Maritime Reports

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Description

Main Findings

  • China’s merchant marine is a foundational economic and national security asset, supporting the country’s multi-decade growth and modernization and military logistics. Thus, Beijing views seafarers as a strategic resource and has prioritized development initiatives to strengthen the quality and quantity of the nation’s professional merchant marine.
  • China has a large potential labor supply of seafarers, with 943,954 registered for international and coastal shipping in 2023, but the actual number of seafarers actively working is far fewer. Over the past decade the sector has shifted from oversupply to emerging shortages due to COVID-19 disruptions, declining interest in maritime careers, workforce aging, and other factors. China will face continued challenges in sustaining its merchant marine workforce.
  • Unique to China, some of its state-owned shipping fleets maintain a system of Ship Party Branches and ship political commissars to ensure the Chinese Communist Party is represented in the ship’s leadership structure. Official regulations and laws do not explicitly acknowledge the presence of ship political commissars, but they nevertheless comprise an important part of the decision-making body aboard.
  • Merchant marine careers are an attractive transition path for veterans who can qualify for officer licenses or rating positions through training and examinations. To assist with job placement and boost veteran entry into the workforce, the PRC government launched “Project Wave Break” in 2020, pairing up maritime schools, shipping companies, and authorities to facilitate this transition. These programs have expanded across China’s provinces over the past several years.
  • While veterans are traditionally sought after for service in the PRC’s militia forces, the closer integration between training programs and companies by “Project Wave Break” has facilitated a pathway for veteran seafarers to join the maritime militia. Outside of major state-owned shipping enterprises, however, the lack of stable lifelong careers with companies is not conducive to the formation of militia organizations in enterprises.
  • Despite improving regulation, information access, and standardization, China’s mariner qualification and certification system faces persistent fraud and abuse, including falsified sea time, forged certificates, exam cheating, and data manipulation, which create hidden safety risks. There is significant fraud and abuse found in the many private crew service agencies that provide manning and crew management services for shipping companies. The Maritime Safety Administration conducts regular crackdowns, imposes fines, suspends licenses, and implements a national demerit points system, but has proven unable to fully eradicate the problem.
  • COSCO Shipping’s subsidiary COSCO Shipping Seafarer Management Co. Ltd. is the largest crew manning provider in China and has a robust in-house seafarer management system. In contrast, many companies outsource crew management to agencies that provide freelance seafarer labor. This has contributed to labor instability and other concerns, prompting the government to push firms to assume greater direct responsibility for their workforces.
  • Despite major headwinds in the seafaring profession, the merchant marine remains a robust component of China’s overall maritime power. Shipping and the merchant marine will continue to be central to the PRC’s goal of becoming a “Transport Power” and the availability of commercial assets for military use will gradually improve.

Publication Date

February 24, 2026

Publisher

China Maritime Studies Institute, U.S Naval War College

City

Newport, Rhode Island

Keywords

China, PRC, China Maritime Studies Institute, CMSI, People’s Liberation Army, PLAN, PLAN Navy, Seafarer, Merchant Marine, Project Wave Break, COSCO

China Maritime Report #51: The Seafarer Profession in Contemporary China

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