Industry body MASSA flags training issues for maritime manning sector

Lack of adequate shipboard training berths is a big challenge for the domestic maritime manning sector, according to an industry body.

Japan, Greece, China, Singapore, Norway, Germany, the UK, Hong Kong, South Korea and Bermuda are some of the major ship-owning countries.

Countries like India, the Philippines, Russia, Indonesia and China are the major markets providing skilled manpower to operate cargo/cruise ships globally.

At present, there exists a mismatch between ship-owning countries and maritime labour supply nations as 70 per cent of the global fleet of cargo ships is owned by 10 developed countries, Mumbai-based Maritime Association of Ship Owners, Ship Managers and Agents (MASSA) said in a statement on Wednesday.

As much as 44 per cent of the seafaring manpower is supplied by five developing nations.

''The ship-owning nations are not overly enthusiastic to invest in training seafarers while the seafarer supply nations do not have the resources to train the manpower,'' MASSA CEO Shiv Halbe said.

''Any efforts to bring in any regulation for 'compulsory' training of seafarers are fiercely resisted,'' Halbe said, adding that the lack of shipboard training berths is the biggest challenge faced by the ship manning sector globally and especially in India.

According to him, the development of professionally-qualified seafarers is intrinsically linked to their shipboard service, right from the beginning of his/her career as a fresh trainee.

''The lack of adequate shipboard training berths adversely impacts the recruitment of young Indian seafarers and hence also is a concerning issue for the Indian maritime manning sector,'' Halbe said.

According to the association, the Central Government has actively sought the participation of stakeholders in creating Maritime Vision 2030, which will lay down a target to increase the number of Indian seafarers from the current 8 per cent to 20 per cent of the global seafarers' supply pool.

''To achieve this target, up-skilling Indian seafarers, beyond the minimum, will be a positive step, as traditionally, the global shipping companies look for economically viable options for manning their ships.

''By up-skilling our maritime manpower, we will be able to offer them a skill arbitrage rather than a cost arbitrage,'' Halbe said.

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