Crewing is a set of pre-trained people on sea or river vessels. This concept usually refers to companies that invite sailors to work.
Activities
Crewing companies are engaged in:
• Selection of shipowners in accordance with the wishes of the customer.
• Search for sailors, checking their documents for such work.
• Decoration of the flag of the ship.
• Testing the knowledge of English and work experience with sailors.
• Signing a contract.
• Sending a sailor on the road.
Some companies of this kind are engaged in training the crew before sailing. Most often, crewing companies work only with certain shipowners and recruit all personnel in their fleet.
The main criterion for seafarers when choosing a company are only 2 points:
• Wage.
• The time of conclusion of the contract.
But on the items listed below (but no less important!), The employees practically do not pay attention to signing the contract:
• Services of an insurance company.
• The conditions in which seafarers will work.
• Fee for reworked hours and completing additional (overtime) tasks.
Primary role
Crewing companies are most often intermediaries between seafarers and shipping companies. And, as a rule, the owner of the ship undertakes to perform these services. But sometimes crewing companies may charge sailors for finding work for them. I would like to note that vacations of such workers are not paid. Now on the market for such services in Russia there are countless companies that are intermediaries between sailors and shipping companies. Maritime agents assist in changing crews for a fee, which includes:
• Customs duties.
• Shipping costs and many others.
Cultural capital
Crewing companies of St. Petersburg can select, employ and train sailors. They are called upon to employ these specialists in most of the common ship-holding companies (sea and river fleets). Due to the proliferation of the Internet, now very often companies conduct online interviews on Skype and can also get a seaman to work without contacting the office. These companies also offer medical care for their employee and his family (during the flight), also a certain part of the salary goes to the country's pension funds, absolutely free medical commissions, help the sailor in obtaining mortgages and loans.
Local specifics
Crewing companies of Odessa work in a similar way. A person looking for a job first comes to the office or writes an e-mail and finds out about the set of vacancies (and whether there is any hiring) for the specialty of a sailor. If Odessa crewing companies want such an employee, then a person can go through a survey, then a check for the presence of a “maritime” education will follow, then an interview in the international (English) language and an
aptitude test will follow
. In the event that the company liked the results of the checks, there is a vacant position and the person is satisfied with all the working conditions, then he can begin to undergo a physical examination. He signs a contract. Then the sailor can wait for the invitation to the ship. This procedure can last a different amount of time - from 1 day to a week or even a month. Then you have to say goodbye to your family for a long time, which, at times, is a very serious test. The next is boarding the plane, and an agent meets the seaman at the airport, and he sends him to the ship for a pre-agreed period of time (usually it is indicated in the contract).