There is a lot of scope in the merchant navy. There is a huge demand for merchant navy officers around the world. As the world is moving towards a consumer-driven society, import-export has increased manifold. Since most of the import-export is being carried out by shipping companies, there will always be a need for people in the merchant navy. The starting pay in the merchant navy is highly attractive, hence it is a good option for those who want a good starting pay and an adventurous life. There’s good growth in the career of the merchant navy. There is an investment of billions in the private sector of the marine industry. The number of ships and cruises is increasing. The salary package offered in this industry is also higher as compared to other industries.

A total of 35 per cent of growth has been witnessed in the employment of Indian seafarers on Indian and foreign ships. In 2017, employment count for merchant navy increased from 1,54,349 to 2,08,799 depicting there’s a huge demand of Indian skills globally. The most popular designations for which Indians are being recruited include nautical officers, nautical ratings, and engineers. According to statistics available with the Ministry of Shipping, the number of seafarers employed on Indian flag vessels increased from 22,103 in 2017 to 27,364 in 2018, while the employment figures on foreign ships went up from 60,194 to 72,327 during the same period. The number of Indians in the Merchant Navy had earlier gone up from 1,03,835 in 2013 to 1,26,945 in 2015.

India has created a large capacity in imparting classroom training for the Merchant Navy but there was a major constraint in providing onboard ship training for the students enrolled for classroom training. The shipping ministry made it mandatory for these institutes to arrange for on-board ship training also and this led to the big leap. A policy shift has also been made by holding the training institutes responsible for onboard ship training of the students also and not only for the classroom training. To release more on-board ship training slots, it is decided to allow on-board training of officers and ratings on tugs and offshore vessels also.