As 2025 comes to an end, we at Danica look back on another successful year marked by many positive developments.
The industry is suffering from a steep increase in fake applications from seafarers, and many crewing agencies are requiring seafarers to pay a commission against employment. At the same time, the shortage of competent seafarers is increasingly difficult for shipping companies to address, as they struggle to hire seagoing staff who can seamlessly operate their vessels.
In this environment, more shipping companies have turned to Danica in 2025, as they appreciate our core concept of connecting demanding shipping companies with highly competent crew members through strict screening. In this way, we filter out many fake CVs and ensure the right crew members put their feet on deck on our clients’ vessels.
At the same time, we in Danica see an increase in the number of competent applicants. This is thanks to our presence in the world’s key seafaring hubs and to our new, streamlined online application and recruitment processes, which give applicants a much better experience and significantly speed up the process. Our large team of experienced recruiters and Danica’s services, which are free of charge for seafarers, are, of course, other important factors why Danica is not facing a shortage of competent crew.
Our intake of crew has grown in all the regions we recruit from, including Ukraine, Georgia, India, the EU, and the Philippines. In response to our clients’ requests, we are adding more recruitment and manning offices to our network, and we will bring some exciting news in early 2026 – continue to watch this space!
The first Danica office opened in Odesa, Ukraine, in 2013 and we soon became one of the top 5 crewing service providers in Ukraine. We are pleased that some of our first crew members are still with us and have built great careers. As we head into 2026, it will be the fourth year of Russia’s war on Ukraine. The conflict has, of course, affected our Ukrainian seafarers and their families, but they have steadily continued to perform their professional duties onboard. In 2025, all documentation and certification matters for Ukrainian seafarers were solved and while abroad they can now renew their passports, certificates and competences, and even sit exams to gain promotion to higher ranks.
At Danica, we not only have long-standing relationships with our seafarers, we partner with the companies we work for and work together to ensure smooth crewing operations. These partnerships evolve over the years, and we are proud that our first five clients from 2013 still trust us to provide them with crews.
I sincerely wish all our clients, seafarers, prospective clients, friends, and office staff the best seasonal greetings and a prosperous 2026.