ShipMoney urges for less cash onboard

Financial services provider ShipMoney highlights that shipping companies are paying out unnecessary high costs by continuing to pay seafarers with cash.With the cost of delivering cash to vessels ranging from 3% to 10% of the value being transported, shipping companies are losing significant amounts of money by paying crew via hard cash or wire transfers, the company says.

In particular,  a shipping operator with an average fleet of 50 ships, face spending nearly $500,000 in delivering cash to vessels, EVP Greg O’Connell said. Annually more than $6billion in hard currency is delivered to the global merchant fleet.

Mr O’Connell stated, “These are really alarming figures. A lot of companies we are talking to don’t even realise the amounts they are paying just to pay seafarers in cash. In today’s world, where many ship operations are moving towards digitalisation, it really doesn’t need to be that way, as nearly everything a seafarer does when they get off a ship can be paid for with a card.’

Previously, ShipMoney had also urged shipping companies to adopt a digital payment strategy, in order to  save time and money and drive towards sustainability. The company had highlighted that seafarers could absorb exchange rates and the cost of sending money.  Also, using an online porthole and reducing these costs, could give seafarers more power over how much money they send home, and how they spend it.