India has emerged as the world’s second-largest supplier of seafarers, contributing 311,936 maritime professionals to the global shipping industry. According to the BIMCO-ICS Seafarer Workforce Report 2026, India now accounts for 12.16 per cent of the global seafaring workforce, ranking behind only the Philippines and ahead of China, the Russian Federation and Indonesia.
The achievement marks one of the most remarkable transformations in the history of India’s maritime sector. In 2015, India contributed only 5.2 per cent of the world’s seafarers and ranked fifth globally, behind China, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Russian Federation. Six years later, in 2021, India’s share had grown modestly to 6 per cent, though it continued to remain in fifth position. The latest BIMCO-ICS report, however, records a decisive breakthrough.
