船員保険（せんいんほけん）／Seamen's Insurance System

The Seamen’s Insurance system is designed to ensure stable livelihood of mariners working on seagoing ships/vessels in an unexpected life event. For this purpose, these mariners shall pay contributions. The system provides insurance benefits to mariners and their dependents for non-occupational sickness, injury, and death as well as childbirth. It also provides mariners with insurance benefits for sickness, injury, disability, and death on occupational causes including commuting.
It is a compulsory system in which all mariners must be covered by law, not a contract which mariners or their employers may opt for the coverage or withdraw.
For benefits and contributions, please refer to the Japan Health Insurance Association（外部リンク） website.

All mariners employed to work on a seagoing ship/vessel, regardless of their nationality, must be covered by the Seamen’s Insurance system.

A mariner referred in the Seamen’s Insurance means a mariner defined in the Mariners Act, and it includes a captain, crew members, and reserved crew members onboard the following ships/vessels:

1. A ship/vessel owned by a Japanese national, Japanese company, or Japanese public office
2. A ship/vessel rented/leased by a Japanese national, Japanese company or Japanese public office, or chartered for navigation from a port in Japan to a port in a foreign country
3. A ship/vessel whose crew members are assigned by the Japanese government
4. A ship/vessel that navigates only between domestic ports

[Note] Crew members onboard the following ships/vessels are not subject to mariners:

1. A ship whose gross tonnage is less than five tons
2. A ship that only navigates lakes, rivers, or within a port
3. A yacht or motorboat used for sports and recreation
4. Specific fishing boats with gross tonnage of less than 30 tons (e.g., boats for stationary net fishing or aquaculture)

The employer of mariners must enroll their employees in the system by submitting the “Application to Enroll in Seamen’s Insurance” (SHIKAKU SHUTOKU TODOKE - SENIN HOKEN) to the Japan Pension Service branch office (JPS branch office) which covers the employer, within 10 days from the date of actual employment.

You can apply for the continuous coverage on a voluntary basis when you retire after you have been a mariner covered by the Seamen's Insurance for at least 2 consecutive months.
For details, please refer to website of the Japan Health Insurance Association（外部リンク）.

Mariner’s dependent family members can apply for coverage if they are the first, second or third level of a mariner’s family members or relatives (see the chart below) and if they have registered their residence in Japan*. To be approved as dependents to be covered, they need to be financially supported mainly by the mariner.

* Even without registered residence in Japan, however, a dependent who temporarily stays abroad may be applicable if he/she is, for example, a student studying abroad, or a family member who accompanies the mariner detached to work abroad.

When the mariner’s dependent has an income, he/she is applicable if:
- he/she lives with you and has an annual income of less than ￥1.3 million* AND less than half of your annual income**.
- he/she does not live with you and has an annual income of less than ￥1.3* million AND less than the annual financial support amount provided by you.

* ￥1.8 million if he/she is aged 60 or older or has a certain level of disability
** When a dependent’s income is more than half of the mariner’s, however, the Japan Pension Service may decide to cover the dependent under the Seamen’s Insurance, if the dependent’s annual income is not more than the mariner’s, and if the result of comprehensive examination provides enough ground to recognize that the mariner plays the central role in household economy.

When a dependent becomes eligible for coverage or if there is any change to the coverage status, the employer of the mariner must submit the “Report of Dependents (change)" (HIFUYOSHA IDO TODOKE) to the JPS branch office which covers the employer, as soon as possible.