Top Tanker Companies Hiring Seafarers

The tanker sector has a lot of operators. Most seafarers waste time approaching the wrong ones through the wrong channels. Knowing which companies are genuinely active, what they look for and how they actually hire saves weeks of effort.

The Major Crude Tanker Operators

Euronav is one of the largest publicly listed crude tanker companies in the world. VLCCs and Suezmax vessels, Belgian ownership, well-established crewing structure. They recruit consistently rather than in bursts which means positions come up regularly rather than only when a vessel is delivered or a contract is won. The Philippines supplies a large proportion of their maritime crew. Finding the specific agencies that hold Euronav relationships in your country is more productive than applying to Euronav directly as a starting point.

Frontline has grown significantly through acquisitions in recent years and now operates one of the larger VLCC and Suezmax fleets. Norwegian controlled. Officers who want VLCC experience and have some tanker sea time behind them find Frontline a realistic target. Not the easiest first tanker job but accessible after a contract or two with a smaller operator.

DHT Holdings operates a VLCC-focused fleet and is smaller than Euronav or Frontline. The size means fewer positions available at any given time but officers who have worked there consistently describe the experience positively. Worth approaching directly alongside agency routes.

Scorpio Tankers sits at the product and medium range end of the crude sector. Active crewing programme, consistent recruitment through established agency channels.

Nordic American Tankers operates a Suezmax fleet with a long track record. Smaller organisation than the giants but with a genuine crewing structure. Worth approaching for officers targeting Suezmax experience specifically.

Chemical Tanker Operators

Stolt-Nielsen is the name that comes up most in any serious conversation about chemical tanker careers. Long history, global operation, genuine investment in officer development rather than just processing crew through contracts. A few years at Stolt-Nielsen tends to open doors elsewhere in the chemical and specialised tanker sector because operators know the training standard. The expectations are high. The preparation for what comes next is also high.

Odfjell is Norwegian, has been in chemical tankers for decades and has a reputation among officers that is consistently positive. Strong safety culture, competitive pay, difficult to get into without chemical tanker experience already. Worth the effort of building toward rather than trying to enter at the very beginning of a tanker career.

Navig8 Chemical Tankers has been expanding its fleet and building its crewing base. More accessible than Stolt-Nielsen or Odfjell for officers making the transition from other tanker types into chemicals. Manning partners in Asia and Europe handle most of their placement.

IINO Chemicals is less widely known outside the Asia-Pacific market but operates a significant chemical tanker fleet with a solid crewing reputation. Worth researching if you are based in Asia or have connections to Japanese shipping operations.

LNG Operators

Shell, TotalEnergies and BP each operate significant LNG fleets alongside their gas trading and production operations. Getting into these organisations as a seafarer means identifying their preferred manning partners in your country rather than applying directly to the company. The entry requirements are high. Officers without a solid conventional tanker background do not typically progress far. The application process is slow. None of that should put off officers who have built the right background because the pay at the top end is among the best in commercial shipping.

Teekay LNG, now operating under Stonepeak ownership, runs one of the larger independent LNG fleets. Clear preferences: conventional tanker background first, LNG training completed, sea service record showing consistent progression. Manning through specific partners rather than open applications.

Flex LNG is Norwegian controlled with a modern fleet and has been actively building its crewing base. More accessible than the oil major affiliated operators for officers making the first move from conventional tankers into LNG. A realistic target if the background is there and the gas tanker endorsements are completed.

GasLog, now under BlackRock ownership following a take-private transaction, operates modern LNG carriers and has a genuine reputation for taking crew welfare seriously rather than just stating it in policy documents. Officers who have worked there describe it positively. Training investment is real.

How to Actually Get In

Direct applications to most of these companies produce inconsistent results. The large operators receive high volumes of applications and the processing timeline is unpredictable. Some seafarers have good experiences with direct applications. Many do not hear back for months.

What works more reliably is finding the manning agency that holds the primary relationship with a specific operator. This is not always obvious but it surfaces through seafarer forums, through conversations with officers who have worked for a company and through direct questions to crewing managers on LinkedIn. Ask how they came in, not just where they worked.

LinkedIn is worth using properly. Not mass connection requests to everyone with a maritime job title but finding the specific crewing manager or fleet personnel officer at a company you are targeting and sending a short specific message. Who you are, what your sea service background is, what type of vessel you want to work on. This approach gets read and responded to more often than most seafarers expect because the volume of genuinely specific and professional outreach is low compared to the noise.

What These Companies Are Looking For

Certificates current and complete. Any expired endorsement stops an application immediately. Agencies move to the next candidate rather than wait.

Sea service record that is specific and verifiable. Vessel names, IMO numbers, gross tonnage, dates, ranks. A record that tells a coherent story of career development rather than a series of unrelated short contracts.

Performance reports from previous commands that say something real. A letter from a chief officer who describes a specific cargo situation or a challenging port call and how you handled it is worth considerably more than a standard form that confirms you served on the vessel.

The operators at the top of the pay scale, the LNG majors, the premium chemical tanker companies, the large VLCC operators, also want to see evidence that a career is being built with intention. Progression through ranks at a reasonable pace. Increasing responsibility over time. A CV that shows deliberate decisions rather than just taking whatever came next.

That difference between a managed career and one that just happened is visible when you lay out the sea service record. It matters more than most junior officers realise until they are trying to move into a better position and wondering why similar candidates are getting the roles they are not.