Market conditions

However, Zhang Duo, a professor of seaman rights at the college, said sailors' incomes are mainly decided by shipping companies and market conditions, so the government's role is limited.

"Seamen's incomes vary according to the company they work for. The international shipping market has slumped since the 2008 financial crisis, resulting in less cargo and fewer orders, so ship owners are earning less," he said. "Naturally they are trying to reduce employment costs by spending less on salaries."

Hu said his company needs to find a balance between reducing labor costs and retaining talent, even though that's a contradiction in itself.

Li Shixin, deputy director of the Maritime Safety Administration at the Ministry of Transport, said the overall income of seamen hasn't fallen in real terms.

"Actually, it has just fallen relatively compared with rising prices and higher salaries in other jobs," he said. "But we have been studying how to improve the seamen's situation."

In 2016, the Chinese Seamen and Construction Workers' Union established a standard monthly base salary, which has risen every year after negotiations with the China Shipowners' Association. This year, it rose to $632, and for the first time exceeded the $614 base level set by the International Labor Organization.

For the past three years, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference has heard a proposal that oceangoing seamen should be exempt from income tax.

The proposal has not been adopted, and Li said tax reform is a complex issue which will require the joint efforts of governments, the shipping industry, companies and other sections of society.

However, those efforts will probably have to be made quickly if the industry is to avoid a massive shortfall of talent.

"People always say you should love your job, but I only do this to make a living," Wu Chao said.

"I will probably quit in three or five years, because I will have to start a family by then."

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