Seafarers around the world will receive a two-year, 5% pay rise after negotiations at the International Bargaining Forum (IBF) in Singapore last month. The pay award will be implemented through a 3.5% pay rise with effect from 1 January 2026, and a further 1.5% pay rise with effect from 1 January 2027. The award was negotiated under the IBF, a unique global structure that generates the world’s largest Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). It covers more than 11,000 vessels and 400,000 seafarers, and involves nearly 500 maritime employers alongside the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and its affiliated maritime trade unions from across the world.The IBF partners agreed to increase the death and disability benefits in the current version of the IBF Framework Agreement, in line with the 5% pay rise. ITF President and Dockers’ Section Chair, Paddy Crumlin, said: “It’s imperative that seafarers facing increases to their cost of living don’t face real terms pay cuts – so, despite a challenging set of negotiations, we’re glad to have achieved that. We can’t forget that seafarers have faced some very tough times in recent years – from the pandemic to ongoing conflict situations hitting maritime trade routes, and now political turbulence hitting trade as a whole. Through all this, seafarers have persevered and endured, and they deserve every cent of the pay rise that’s rightly coming their way.” (....)