The benefits of using a crewing agent if you are a client

So you either own or manage a ship. You have a crewing department who manages the vessel/s you have and they do a good job. The workload however is becoming heavy and/or you have just had a seafarer pull the carpet from under you and he has gone somewhere else, last minute! What do you do? Well there is the choice of a crewing agent or recruiter.

You have a tight budget and although you get a hundred calls a day asking to supply crew you have never trusted another agency since the last one let you down and cost you a fortune! Your options are a plenty from Ukraine to India, Indonesia to the UK and everybody telling you they will do it best. So how do you decide and what should you look for?

I know you may think I am biased being a ‘crewing agent’ myself but I’m not here to ask for business, simply offer some advice.

A good crewing agent or recruiter will have a database of seafarers ready to go as well as access to other databases of available crew. They will have knowledge of their industry, what each role in their industry is required to do as well as what certification is required for that particular role. They will also have a reputation in their industry amongst professionals both on the client and candidate side. It is important to find this information out early on – ask what they know about DP2 systems for example, what they think an Azimuth thruster is or what kind of vessel would have a 6 point mooring system.

You don’t want a CV monkey who logs on to a website and simply searches for a matched CV to what you want, you want somebody who can have an intelligent conversation with a seafarer about the job he will do and with a certain level of competency can ascertain his suitability.

Once you have decided if they have a good knowledge of the industry and the job they will be recruiting for you as well as some good connections you need to test their passion for the role. Ask for a reference, you do with a seafarer and any crewing agent or recruiter worth their steel with have a list of previous clients happy to sing their praises. Recommendations in this industry often come easy from candidates but if you can prove that your client is happy you are doing your job properly.

Finally you need to make sure you are getting somebody who isn’t limited to one area. A crewing agent from Ukraine who only supplies Ukrainian seafarers and only supplies Masters is no good! You want to be able to advise on your requirements not be limited to their capabilities, so find out who they have available and who they have access to. Ask who they have placed recently or what kind of roles they have recently filled. This will give you an idea of how capable they may or may not be to fill your role.

I hope the above can be useful and if you have any questions you can call or email me via the details on my profile. Thank you for reading and good luck finding your next agent or recruiter and if you are struggling then do drop me a line and I will see what I can do ;)

Next week I will be writing about ‘the benefits of using a crewing agent if you are a candidate’ so keep an eye out for my next publication.