Shipping eyes Africa as crew shortages bite

The horrendous disregard shown to the world’s seafarers during the pandemic looks set to see future shortages of crew from traditional seafaring sourcing nations, with manning agents now looking to new pastures to fill potential gaps. Launched today, the new Seafarer Workforce Report from BIMCO and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) warns that the industry must significantly increase training and recruitment levels if it is to avoid a serious shortage in the total supply of officers by 2026. Given the growing demand for STCW certified officers, the report predicts that there will be a need for an additional 89,510 officers by 2026 to operate the world merchant fleet. The new report also highlights a current shortfall of 26,240 STCW-certified officers, indicating that demand for seafarers in 2021 has outpaced supply. Guy Platten, secretary-general of ICS, told Splash Extra that even before the pandemic hit, demand has been outstripping the pace of growth of the workforce. If you treat people poorly in any walk of life then recruitment and retention becomes more difficult “We are incredibly close to reaching capacity, where demand outstrips supply,” Platten said, adding: “The small amount of wiggle room we did have in our workforce supply is being put under increasing pressure due to government Covid-19 travel bans, which continue to create havoc with crew changes globally.” The ICS boss urged governments to end travels bans and prioritise seafarer vaccinations. As governments backtrack on opening borders, scared of the spread of Covid variants, one leading shipmanager warned today that global trade is now under threat. “Unless all countries commit 100% to freedom of movement of seafarers, and their quick and effective free vaccination, irrespective of nationality and exposure to particular Covid variants, world trade as we know it will be brought to its knees,” said Mark O’Neil, president of Columbia Shipmanagement and the current president of InterManager, the association for third-party managers. “There will simply not be sufficient numbers of trained crew available to man the world fleet, and those crew available will be long overdue safe and humane rotation periods. Vessels will remain idle, goods will stockpile, factories will close, shelves will empty,” O’Neil said, stressing: “Imagine the chaos caused by the Ever Given and apply a multiple of 10.” Kuba Szymanski, secretary-general of InterManager, relayed how shipmanagers are holding talks with new crew managers. “All of a sudden countries such as Ukraine, Georgia, Poland are becoming more and more popular for ratings,” he said, saying owners would feel the pinch from years of under investment. “Owners were very reluctant to move out of the Philippines and India and when Covid put barriers on the numbers of seafarers coming from these sources all of a sudden there is a pressure on managers to find a quick fix. Poaching begins, activity which fuels inflation,” Szymanski said. Bjorn Hojgaard, CEO of shipmanager Anglo-Eastern Univan Group, commented: “We worry that the way seafarers have been treated by ports and authorities the world over in the past 18 months or so can only lead to some young people who would otherwise have chosen a career at sea, to reconsider. And perhaps some senior officers will hang up their hat early, and retire.” Rajesh Unni, CEO of Singapore shipmanager Synergy Marine Group, said that people walking away from a life at sea now was inevitable given what so many have had to endure over the past 18 months. “If you treat people poorly in any walk of life then recruitment and retention becomes more difficult,” Unni pointed out, saying the treatment of seafarers during the Covid-19 crisis had been “inhumane” to date. Like other managers surveyed, Synergy is spreading its recruitment footprint to address any potential shortages. Vitalii Chaika, group crewing director at ASP Crew Management Services, said it was vital for managers to have multiple crew sources both to satisfy individual client preferences as well as to ensure the supply of quality crew as the situation in different countries evolves. Calling today’s crew shortages “a real problem”, Kishore Rajvanshy, the managing director of Fleet Management, said that this has already led to wages going up substantially. We are incredibly close to reaching capacity, where demand outstrips supply Carl Schou, president and CEO of Wilhelmsen Ship Management, conceded: “We will not be surprised if we see shortages moving ahead.” Last year, Wilhelmsen lost a number of highly competent seafarers due to the crew change crisis. In the initial phases of the pandemic it was close to impossible to carry out crew changes. This led to many seafarers who were at home and without income to look for other sources of income and eventually they decided to stay ashore. “Looking into the crystal ball on the future manning supply, we unfortunately do not see a sun rise but more a sun set,” Schou said, adding: “We are concerned that the treatment of seafarers received during the pandemic combined with current employment conditions would frighten anyone from taking this profession.” Schou said the shipping industry needs to work on basic employment conditions for seafarers and lift the image of the industry. Bjoern Sprotte, CEO of shipmanagement at V.Ships, concurred, saying that wider industry stakeholders have, over the years, largely “deprioritised” seafarers, which has negatively affected their overall wellbeing and made a career in the merchant navy a less enticing prospect. “In the longer term we may see fewer young people looking for a career at sea. A drop in the number of high-calibre cadet and trainee applicants could lead to a drop in competency standards at a time when vessels are becoming more complex. Also, the ongoing industry pressure to reduce crew complement sizes could further accentuate any seafarer competency challenges,” Sprotte predicted. Long-term demographics Looking at more long-term demographics, Henrik Jensen, managing director of Danica Crewing Specialists, relayed how for many years the maritime industry has benefited from recruiting young talent in countries with a less-developed economy and where a career at sea gave nearly unmatched career opportunities, not only offering wages far above average income but also interesting and steady jobs. Today this position is being challenged by other industries, in particular IT and software development, Jensen observed. Moreover, Generation Z’s expectations are different to their forebears. “Generation Z is looking for a work/life balance which is difficult to combine with a career at sea,” Jensen said, adding: “We should be seriously concerned about the negative effect of press stories reporting that crews are stranded for months onboard.” This was a point picked up also by Andrew Airey, managing director of Thai shipmanager Highland Maritime, who told Splash Extra: “It is tough enough to convince intelligent young men and women to embark on a maritime career, compared to the alternative shore-based lifestyles, without every nation on earth selfishly treating them like a pariah during port calls.” Africa as the new crew source Carl Martin Faannessen, managing director of Manila-based Noatun Maritime, said that as old powerhouse seafaring nations such as the Philippines and India have proven vulnerable of late, some owners are turning their attention to new areas to source crew with Africa looking like a promising emerging market. “Owners have, over time, shown great adaptability in finding new sources of crew as and when existing sources have run into limitations. We do not expect shortages, as long as owners are prepared to open the door to new nationalities and to rethink old dogma when it comes to crew,” Faannessen said.

Shipping eyes Africa as crew shortages bite

The pandemic has served as an accelerant to huge shifts in the crewing sector. Shipping is having to contend with a severe image problem in order to recruit and retain staff at sea

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