Union Minister for Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shri Sarbananda Sonowal has informed that The demand of merchant navy professionals has increased due to increasing commercial activities over the last few years. The statistics of engagement of Indian Seafarers for the last 03 years is given below:
| Year | Total No. of Seafarers engaged | Growth (%) |
| 2017 | 154349 | 7.23 |
| 2018 | 208799 | 35.27 |
| 2019 | 234886 | 12.49 |
| 2020 | 224478 | – 4.43* |
* Employment in the year 2020 has decreased mainly due to complete stoppage of cruise shipping during the Covid 19 pandemic.
India has over 4 lakh seafarers, and there is no shortage of Indian Seafarers.