How To Find Out If A Shipping Company Is Genuine And Worth Working For?

How To Find Out If A Shipping Company Is Genuine And Worth Working For?

A seafarer has to be very cautious before applying for or taking up any job offer.  It is very crucial to find if the shipping company is genuine and worth working for.

The Internet has made it convenient for people to find their desired jobs with the ease of sitting at home. It has taken on a prime role in how people find and apply for work. Today’s job seekers are not only availing their smartphones to hunt for jobs but also for challenging tasks ranging from writing a resume to filling out an online job application. According to research in America, about 54% of  U.S. adults have gone online to look for jobs and 45% have applied for jobs online.

It is definitely very hard to distinguish between a good and a bad shipping company having only a little knowledge in hand. There are a plethora of shipping companies that advertise and promote themselves on maritime websites featuring captivating offers which resemble those offered by online e-commerce websites.

However, a lot of times you will notice that you are able to find every sort of information about the company barring genuine reviews or feedback of clients/interns working or worked for their company, which furthermore aggravates the problem for the interested job seeker when it comes to finding the authenticity of the company.

What Can Happen If You Get Hired In An Unreliable Or A Fake Shipping Company?

None of us want to go through hardships when it especially when it comes to financial problems. The very first thing that pops up in anybody’s mind while applying for the job is whether they will receive their monthly wages on time or not.

This is explicitly the factor you should fear if you land up in an unreliable company. The company may or may not provide your monthly wages on time, they can even go on to delaying it further leaving you uncertain as to when you would receive your remittance.

Apart from this major issue, there are ample complaints against such kinds of issues relating to the shipping companies filed in the local unions and ITF databases. Some of which include the following:

  • Making the employers work for wee hours/extra hours and not giving them time to rest.
  • Unamiable working conditions on board
  • Unsafe ship conditions
  • Inadequate and improper food and rations.
  • Threats from employers working in higher posts like senior officers etc. for carrying out illegal jobs against your will. These ship owners tend to survive on coercion and blackmailing.
  • Not being granted leave despite having fulfilled the other necessary needs.
  • Not keeping the promises of additional perks that were going to be provided after joining the job.

The number of complaints just goes on increasing each year, there’s no end to it.

Also read: What is MNTB?

How To Figure Out If The Shipping Company Is Worth Working For Or Not?

There are many tell-tale signs that can tell a job seeker of the shipping company is a flag of convenience ship, shady company, or has a bad reputation in the industry. Let’s know some of them.

  1. Look for poor/vague grammatical mistakes in emails sent by the company or job advertisements on merchant navy job websites.
  2. If you are not able to find the shipping company’s reviews or people who have worked and appreciated the company then you must be cautious while applying for the job.
  3. Check if the company has a secure website and LinkedIn profiles.
  4. Verify the contact information provided on the company’s website. If you find anything peculiar about the verification, then you should probably withdraw.
  5. If a not-so-renowned company bluffs about providing a jaw-dropping salary package to the new aspirants along with other enticing perks, then you should remember the “if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is” mantra.
  6. Upon joining and handing over your bank account details, keep close track of your bank statements regularly for spotting suspicious transactions.

Read more: Types of Maritime Recruitment Scams

What Are The Necessary Precautions You Should Take In Order To Avoid Landing Up In An Unreliable Shipping Company?

Nowadays, seafarers rely on opinions from fellow seafarers or are enticed by attractive advertisements when it comes to selecting a shipping company. In order to keep aloof from bogus shipping companies, you must take the following precautions into consideration, as it is rightly said that it is better to be safe than sorry later.

Some of the precautions/safety measures include:

  • First and foremost, you must take the initiative to ask questions, be it from the employer or the people working there itself about the kind of work you will have to do, the monthly wages you can expect, the sacrifices you will have to make, etc. You must clear all your doubt before joining to be on the safer side.
  • Don’t be lazy enough to skim through the terms and conditions of a company. You must give a thorough reading of your service terms and conditions prior to signing any contract provided by the shipping company.
  • You must try to gain full information about the company, its promoters and its reputation from as many sources as you can. Don’t just get attracted to the big label.
  • You must find out details about the kind of crew welfare provided by the shipowner on board as you will be working there for a long tenure. This ensures proper conditions on board ship and health & medical facilities, welfare measures, and other forms of social protection for all the crew.
  • You must check up and confirm the company policy on sailing in pirated water.
  • You must NOT fall for attractive advertisements. Don’t get easily captivated by the promotions/ads they display and brag about.
  • Only find a job through genuine manning/crewing agencies. Crewing agencies offering recruitment services cannot charge you for finding a job. A proper manning agent will explain to you your rights and duties under an employment agreement and give you enough time to examine it before you sign up. Such agencies also ensure the genuineness of the shipping company.
  • You must not accept computerized signatures on certificates provided by the manning office, in case you are required to do any in-house courses as port authorities may refuse to accept them.
  • You should not at any cost agree to a telephonic job agreement. Do not make the blunder to commit unless you have researched and obtained all necessary information about the company or the person interviewing you.
  • You must make sure that the monthly remittance agreed on offer letter or telephone is the same as that on the contract.
  • Make the initiative to check up with your local union affiliated to ITF about your minimum assured wages, benefits, and rights on that ship if you are joining planning on joining a Flag of convenience (FOC) ship. You can even access the directory online.
  • Never make the blunder of joining any shipping company without undergoing and passing a proper medical examination. In case of detection of any pre-existing illness, while onboard, you may have to pay the heavy cost of repatriation.
  • You should confirm if the crewing agency has insurance in the event they need to compensate you for any failure to meet their obligations under the recruitment and placement service, or if the shipping company fails to meet its obligations.

With all the essential information that is required beforehand, you will be able to save yourself from facing the odds on board and keep away the anxiety that otherwise would have raised as a result of lack of research/information.

 I hope you found this article helpful.

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