The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) is pushing to significantly grow the number of Ghanaian seafarers working in the global shipping industry, positioning the maritime sector as an underutilised pathway for youth employment at a time when the country is actively searching for job-creation opportunities.
Dr. Kamal-Deen Ali, Director-General of the GMA, made the disclosure at a media forum organised by the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) in Tema, where he outlined both the scale of the global opportunity and the structural barriers Ghana must overcome to seize it.
He noted that the global seafaring workforce stands at approximately 1.9 million workers, yet Africa accounts for only four to five percent of that figure despite holding the world’s largest and fastest-growing youth population. Asia dominates with around 50 percent, followed by Europe at 33 percent and the Americas at nine percent. Ghana, with roughly 5,000 registered seafarers, ranks approximately fifth on the continent behind Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Morocco and Egypt.
The global industry is also facing a significant skills shortage. Dr. Ali said the current deficit stood at between 27,000 and 30,000 workers, with projections suggesting that gap could widen to approximately 90,000 by the end of 2026 if the global supply of trained seafarers does not increase.
“Ghana has the potential to be a top supplier of maritime professionals to the world,” he said. “We have the history, the institutions, and the talent. What we need now is deliberate strategy and stronger partnerships.”
Ghana’s maritime credentials are well established. The country founded a Nautical College in 1958 and operated the former Black Star Line, producing skilled captains and maritime officers who served on vessels internationally. The GMA Director-General has said Ghana currently ranks among the top five countries globally from which international shipping companies recruit seafarers, a position he has described as both an achievement and a baseline to surpass.
The GMA has already secured a significant international market opening. The European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) has formally recognised seafarer certificates of competency issued by the GMA, a decision that opens a major market window for Ghanaian seafarers to obtain shipboard employment across European-flagged vessels. Signed memoranda of understanding with major ship registry nations including Panama, Liberia, the Bahamas, Singapore and Cyprus further expand the pool of vessels on which certified Ghanaian seafarers can legally serve.
One of the most immediate threats to that pipeline was recently resolved through diplomatic intervention. Earlier in 2025, US visa restrictions threatened to effectively shut Ghanaian seafarers out of the global market, since most commercial vessels call at American ports and shipping companies require crew to hold valid US visas. The policy triggered layoffs of Ghanaian seafarers already employed. The reversal of those restrictions, secured through negotiations led by President Mahama and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, was described by Dr. Ali as protecting the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of Ghanaians.
On the training side, Dr. Ali identified access to sea time as one of the central obstacles to growing the sector. Maritime graduates from the Regional Maritime University typically complete four years of academic study before requiring approximately one year of supervised time at sea to qualify for certification. Securing those placements has historically been difficult because international shipping companies have limited capacity for trainees on commercial vessels.
To address the bottleneck, the GMA has begun engaging international shipping companies directly to negotiate training berths for Ghanaian cadets, moving beyond its traditional regulatory role into active placement facilitation. Partnerships secured with the Kuwait Oil Tanker Company and a Saudi shipping firm have already produced placements. Cadets in sea-time training typically receive monthly stipends of between USD 500 and USD 1,000.
The GMA is also developing a comprehensive seafarer development programme to scale both training and placement activity, building on its recently articulated commitment to drive economic growth through maritime workforce expansion.
Dr. Ali said the Authority’s regulatory mandate would remain its core function but that a promotional role was now equally important. Ghana, he said, had recently been recognised under the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control as the best-performing country in the West African sub-region for the quality of its port state control inspections, a credential that strengthens the country’s standing with international maritime partners.
