Croatia: Offering wages of up to 2,000 euros, no one wants to work

Equal salaries are guaranteed to foreign sailors on ships bearing the Croatian flag.

The labour force in the so-called low naval professions of Croatia's fleet in international navigation is old and is not renewed, these are mostly retired people, when many are sick and should no longer sail and do hard work, from 55 years of age onward, with most of them having more than 60.

According to Jutarnji list, the young Croatian sailors, after finishing high school, want to continue their education and are only interested in honorary professions, so the lack of labour force is what affects all owners of Croatian ships whose ships carry the Croatian flag in international navigation.

To resolve this problem, a collective agreement was signed last February, which allowed sailors from third countries, non-nations- The EU, sailing under the Croatian flag, and the Ministry of Sea, Marine Affairs and Communications began to recognise the maritime licenses of other countries.

The new national collective agreement for sailors, citizens of third-nation ships in international navigation of Croatian nationality, which is valid until December 31st, 2022, was signed this year on 13 January.

However, according to Sandra Vidas, director of the Croatian Association Mare Nostrum, no foreign mariner has ever boarded ships bearing the Croatian flag.

“We have been working on solving this problem for four years and are still working on removing bureaucratic barriers to the employment of foreign sailors. We are talking exclusively about marine professions, which there is no supply on the Croatian labour market, although demand is high, but young people want to be trained for honorary professions”, Vidas said.

It shows that the new collective agreement guarantees equal salaries for foreign sailors sailing under the Croatian flag and that depending on the type of ship, labour and contracts, they can range from 10/15 thousand Croatian kuna or 1,300 to 2,000 euros, while they need about a hundred sailors.

“There have been different experiences with the Filipinos, but in the end it turned out to be the mentality, diet, and everything else, mostly to Ukrainian”, Vidas said.

However, she does not think that the lack of labour force will endanger Croatian ship owners, since the European Union plans to cross electric engines by 2030, so the need for more such professions will become markedly smaller.