Regulatory enforcement of labour standards in an outsourcing globalized industry: the case of the shipping industry

Ship operators have largely contracted out the supply of seafarer labour to crewing agencies recruiting in developing world countries. This case study reports on the quality of seafarer training and on the local enforcement of international training standards in a developing country which has become a major supplier of outsourced seafarer labour. Maritime education and training institutions (METs) cannot compete freely to supply quality training at competitive prices because of the market-fixing activities of the crewing agencies who demand kickbacks from the METs. Other pressures on training quality include the existence of papermill METs (issuing certificates without training) and a developed market in forged certificates. This poses a considerable challenge for the national institutions charged with overseeing examinations and inspecting METs. The struggle to achieve effective governance of the training of outsourced labour in the shipping industry may arguably be viewed as a critical case for other globalizing industries.