Appealing to the young generation

Encouraging youngsters from developed countries to embark on a career at sea is a problem many shipping companies say they suffer from. They argue that in developed countries going to sea and getting their hands dirty is simply not as attractive a career proposition for school leavers as it was in the past, especially when set in the context of other professions youngsters can enter.

The Marine Society, an organisation tasked with promoting careers at sea in the UK, reckons there was a shortfall in British cadets last year of about 800 (if the actual intake of about 600 is set against the total potential requirement of British companies).

Shortfalls in supply such as this are highlighted by a number of British shipping companies as the reason why they recruit the bare minimum British crew required under their UK Tonnage Tax obligations and fill remaining vacancies with overseas nationals. The Marine Society meets the claim with a degree of cynicism. Overseas nationals are cheaper, it says. The suggestion is that supply has dropped off because demand is lower and not the other way around.

Bob Brown of the UK shipping recruitment firm Crew Finders backs the assertion up. He says a number of shipping companies offer young Britons cadetships, but do not give them anywhere to go once the cadetship is over, preferring instead to recruit foreign nationals to junior officer posts. This is hardly an encouragement to British school leavers to join the profession.

Still, some household names such as Shell, BP, Trinity House and Cunard, have no trouble recruiting cadets. Their trainee schemes are often greatly oversubscribed, most likely because these are the companies that offer the best career prospects.

There are never any job guarantees of course, but specialist British crew for tankers operated by oil majors are currently presented with a readily identifiable career path that can take them right through to senior officer level. Cargo crew for containerships and bulk carriers on the other hand only have to look at the number of Britons made redundant recently by companies such as P&O, ABC and Hanseatic to realise that long-term career prospects in this sector are at best uncertain.

Another possible reason why supply of willing British cadets is so low, is that the appeal of world travel through a career in shipping has dropped dramatically. The world has metaphorically shrunk as aircraft have become larger and plane travel cheaper. Round the world air tickets can be bought for $1,500 or less and ?gap? years spent travelling the world are now commonplace among school and university leavers in Britain and other developed countries.

Onboard life has evolved too. “Times and work patterns have certainly changed since the ?idyllic? sixties,” recognises Chris Roberts, head of training at The Marine Society. “Shore leave is rare and there are less people onboard for a social life.” Yet he argues that there are still some strong positives to a career at sea including good onboard living conditions and work rotations that give three-months leave after a six-month tour. What is really at fault, he says, is most shipping companies? commitment to British seafarers and, with a few notable exceptions, their portrayal of the industry.

“The industry as a whole and shipping companies in particular could do a great deal more to advertise and portray a worthwhile career in the shipping industry both afloat and ashore,” says Martin.

Issues in UK engineer supply

(Based on the views of Bob Brown at UK recruitment company Crew Finders)

Specialist crew (tankers etc.) ? Oil majors tend to retain their junior officers until 45 and senior officers until 55 years of age. The independents tend to have age restrictions on their junior officers of less than 45. Salaries on offer at the independents often fall short of those on offer at the oil majors too. The result is a shortage of experienced British 2nd engineers to take up posts for the independent operators.

Cargo crew (container ships, bulkers etc.) ? The number of recent redundancies ? P&O for example has recently divested five ships making eight crews redundant; ABC has sold its 15 ships to Israeli concerns with a similar impact; Hanseatic is actively replacing British crews with other nationals ? means there is a plentiful supply of experienced British crew.

Oil-related crew (offshore etc.) ? There is a ready supply of British engineers for such postings.

Entry level (cadets, junior officers) ? A lot of companies will offer young Britons cadetships. However once the cadetship is over, few give them anywhere to go as many companies operate a policy of recruiting foreign nationals to junior officer posts.