The Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union (TOSU) is the only registered

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

Tuvalu Tuvalu ( ) is an island country in the Polynesian subregion of Oceania in the Pacific Ocean, about midway between Hawaii and Australia. It lies east-northeast of the Santa Cruz Islands (which belong to the Solomon Islands), northeast of Van ...

. It represents workers on foreign ships, and has a membership of 600. The TOSU is affiliated with the

International Transport Workers' Federation The International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF) is a democratic global union federation of transport workers' trade unions, founded in 1896. In 2017 the ITF had 677 member organizations in 149 countries, representing a combined membership o ...

. Tuvaluans are well known for their seafaring skills, with the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute on Amatuku motu (island),

Funafuti Funafuti is an atoll, comprising numerous islets, that serves as the capital of Tuvalu. As of the 2017 census, it has a population of 6,320 people. More people live in Funafuti than the rest of Tuvalu combined, with it containing approximately 6 ...

, providing training to approximately 120 marine cadets each year so that they have the skills necessary for employment as seafarers on merchant shipping. TMTI now operates under the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute Act 2000. A number of Tuvaluans are employed as merchant seamen on cargo ships on contracts of up to 12 months. The

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(ADB) estimates that 800 Tuvaluan men are trained, certified and active as seafarers. The ADB estimates that, at any one time, about 15 percent of the adult male population works abroad as seafarers. The Ahrenkiel Group of Germany is the shipping company that is the primary employer of Tuvaluan seafarers.

Tuvaluan merchant mariners

The Tuvalu Marine Training Institute (TMTI) provides Tuvaluan men with eight months of training to provide the basic level of maritime qualifications necessary for employment in the international maritime industry. The 1991 census of Tuvalu identified 272 seaman working on merchant shipping. In 2002 the Tuvaluan Overseas Seaman's Union (TOSU) estimated the number as 417 seaman working on shipping. Remittances from seafarers is a major source of income for Tuvaluan families. However, the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

impacted on export/import activities with a resulting drop in job opportunities for Tuvaluan seaman merchant shipping. In 2011 the Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates there are 800 TMTI graduates registered for employment as seafarers. The ADB identify that the number of Tuvaluans employed as seafarers has decreased steadily from about 340 in 2001 to only 205 in 2010; so that of a total pool of 800 qualified seafarers, including those on leave, almost 450 were unemployed. This decline in seafarer employment has reduced remittances from $2.4 million in 2001 to a projected $1.2 million in 2010. The

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

(ILO) also estimates that in 2010 there were approximately 200 Tuvaluan seafarers on ships. The

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...

2014 Country Report described the effect of the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

as reducing demand for the services of Tuvaluan seafarers. As of October 2013, there were about 112 Tuvalu seafarers working on cargo ships, compared to 361 in 2006. The consequence is that remittances from seafarers to their families in Tuvalu fell by about 9 percent of GDP for Tuvalu. In 2012 remittances from seafarers amounted to 10 percent of GDP in Tuvalu. Tuvaluan seafarers compete with seafarers from

Kiribati Kiribati, officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the central Pacific Ocean. Its permanent population is over 119,000 as of the 2020 census, and more than half live on Tarawa. The st ...

and South and Southeast Asian countries. There are higher transport costs for Tuvaluan and I-Kiribati seafarers to travel to take up positions of ships put them as a disadvantage as compared to other seafarers. Structural changes to merchant shipping industry have occurred following the

with the industry suffering low profitability and overcapacity. The increasing automation of ship operations has also reduced the demand for Tuvaluan seafarers.

References

Additional sources

* {{Tuvalu topics Trade unions in Tuvalu International Transport Workers' Federation Seafarers' trade unions