The Crew Network report that Social Networks are losing favour with Captains who are now returning to the traditional recruitment agencies for hiring crews.
During the explosion in social networking over the last five years, many Captains turned to Facebook® and other online forums in order to try and find new crew members.
With the ease of sending a CV at the press of a button, this often produced a flood of applicants, many of whom were completely inappropriate and whose experience did not bear any relation to the vacancy.
Furthermore, Captains have better things to do than sift through piles of paper and carry out reference checks.
This form of recruitment does not give the Captain any form of warranty period should a new crew member leave without notice.
Many Captains and yacht owners are therefore reverting to traditional recruitment agencies that handle all the work for them.
The current crew market is characterized by an oversupply of Captains and a lack of chief engineers who are currently in high demand.