Salary data — methodology and confidence

Seafarer wages depend on flag state, applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), ITF status, vessel type, rank, overtime, leave pay, contract length, the seafarer's nationality and home-country labour market, and the operating company. The numbers shown across /salaries and per-rank pages are ranges, not contracts. This page explains exactly how each number is sourced, how confident we are, and what to do with the result.

What each field means

Low / Median / High (USD/month). The 10th–50th–90th percentile of public survey datapoints we've been able to collect for that rank + vessel + region + year. Not a basic-wage figure; this is total monthly cash including the elements named in the source row's notes.
Basic wage (USD/month). The contracted base salary line — what should appear as "basic" on the SEA and on each monthly wage account. Often 50–70% of the median figure on industrial-trade flag fleets; ratio varies by CBA.
Overtime (USD/month). Fixed-overtime allowance under most CBAs (typically a flat monthly figure covering 85–103 hours of guaranteed OT). Beyond that, work-paid OT applies.
Leave pay (USD/month). Pro-rated paid leave accrual per month of service. ITF TCC reference rates pay this monthly during service; some flags pay it as a lump sum on sign-off.
Contract length. Typical contract on this rank + vessel. MLC 2006 caps continuous service at 11 months.
Year. The year the underlying source data was published. Older years are flagged stale (below).
Region. Either the nationality / labour market of the seafarer (e.g. Filipino crew on FoC fleets) or the operating region of the vessel.
Source. Plain-language source name. Click through where possible.
Confidence. Our subjective grade — see below.

Confidence grades

High. Direct citation to the ITF Total Crew Cost (TCC) scale or a published CBA addendum, OR a recent (≤24 months) full survey from a named industry source. The figures are not guesses — they are the floor or the median enforced by the agreement. Use these with confidence; deviations from this number on the SEA are negotiable.
Medium. Citation to Faststream, Spinnaker, Danica, BIMCO/ICS, or the operator's annual report. Sample sizes vary; methodology is documented but the underlying anonymised data is not. Use as a planning estimate; expect ±15%.
Low. Citation to forum threads, recruiter blog posts, anecdotal contributions, or older surveys (>36 months). These are useful for orientation but not for negotiation. Use as "does this number even pass a sanity check?" only.
Stale. Source is older than 5 years AND no newer datapoint has been found. Almost certainly out of date. Treated as low-confidence with an extra age warning. Replaced when fresh data lands.

What the numbers don't include

Bonuses (signing-on, completion, gift, war-zone, ice-class, repatriation).
Per diem at port (where applicable).
Travel allowance to and from the airport.
Pension / social-security contributions paid by the owner. (See pension topic.)
P&I-club benefits in case of injury.
Family allotment routing fees from the bank.
Income tax in your country of tax residency. (See country guides for the 182-day rule etc.)

Caveats that swing salary

Flag. ITF-FoC fleet on the ITF TCC: floor is set. Same role on a non-CBA flag of convenience: 20–40% lower is normal.
CBA. IBF Framework agreement > ITF TCC > national CBA (Norway NSU, Greek PNO, Dutch Maritime CBA) > non-CBA. Crossing tiers shifts the number significantly.
Vessel type. LNG/LPG and oil/chemical tanker pays roughly 10–25% above dry cargo. Cruise hotel pays low base + variable tip income. Offshore DP pays high but is project-cyclical.
Nationality / labour market. A Filipino Chief Officer on a German-owned container ship and a Croatian Chief Officer on the same ship are not, in practice, paid identically — even when the CBA says they should be — because of how supplementary perks vary.
Company. Some operators pay 10–15% above TCC as a retention strategy; others pay TCC floor only.
Currency exposure. Most contracts pay USD; some pay home currency at fixed FX or local pay-in. FX risk is on the seafarer in most cases.

Primary sources we use

ITF Collective Agreements (TCC reference) — the global floor on ITF-listed flag-of-convenience vessels.
BIMCO / ICS Seafarer Workforce Report (public summaries).
Spinnaker Maritime HR Association salary report (public summaries).
Danica Crewing Wage Survey (public summaries).
Faststream Salary Surveys (public summaries).

How to use this against an actual job offer

Find the most-relevant row: same rank, same vessel type, similar region. If the median figure is within 10% of the offer total, the offer is on-market.
Compare the basic-wage line specifically; this is what allotments and overtime are calculated against.
Check the CBA reference on the SEA. If it says "ITF TCC", the actual numbers cannot be below the published TCC scale.
If the offer is materially below the median range, ask why. Common legitimate reasons: very small operator, training-cadet rank, junior-cadet first contract. Common red flags: vague vessel details, agency fees being deducted, no CBA reference.
For a wage dispute on an existing contract, use the wages toolkit — Letter of Demand template + evidence log + escalation steps.

Reporting wrong data

Spotted a salary line that contradicts an active CBA, an authoritative survey, or your own current pay? Tell us: [email protected] — please attach a public source if you have one.