Superintendents and other former seafarers seeking shore-side jobs are being prevented from doing so because of work permit and visa restrictions.
In spite of a widely perceived shortage of former master mariners and chief engineers when seeking to fill jobs ashore, restrictions on the issue of visas and work permits hamper the work of getting such jobs filled.
“It’s not about race,” says Spinnaker’s Chairman Phil Parry. “It’s not even so much about immigration rules where the job’s based, but practicality – travel to visit vessels often happens at short notice. Some nationalities, particularly westerners, need fewer visas, some get them quickly…others don’t.” It’s common knowledge that many employers insist on having a certain number of western superintendents to ensure they have enough people to travel quickly. “One employer also recently pointed out to Spinnaker the remarkably high cost of obtaining visas for other nationals each year – it ran into many many thousands of dollars.”
“After all, if you need to attend an incident, it is not possible to wait three weeks for visa clearance,” Mr Parry says. He believes it is vital that maritime trade organisations lobby governments hard to address this issue.
This isn’t a new issue, but as seafarer shortages continue to bite and the western demographic continues to lessen there must be a very real risk that shipping companies will be unable to get in-house technical expertise out to vessels in the event of an incident. As time goes on, there is also a risk that salary discrimination along nationality lines will re-emerge. “The gap between western staff and those from developing nations has got smaller in recent years,” say Spinnaker, “but unless travel visa rules for shipping companies are made more user-friendly the gap could widen again.”
Given the number of newbuildings scheduled for delivery, even if there are cancellations or delays, there remains a substantial shortfall of seafarers to man the new ships, and to fill shore-side positions when they come ashore.
Spinnaker is participating in the 2010 BIMCO/ ISF Manpower Study, which is due to deliver its findings later this year on the extent of the supply / demand imbalance. Based on the current shipyard order-book, some estimates put the number of new seafarers needed at between 100,000 and 130,000.
The issue of shortages has been talked about ad nauseam for so many years that it has become white noise for some. Ships are still sailing and with many in layup some have begun to suggest that there isn’t really a problem. “This is irresponsible,” according to Parry. “This last decade has been witness to the early consequences of the problem – owners and managers have found it increasingly hard to fill shoreside technical positions, poaching has increased, seagoing and shoreside salaries and bonuses have risen (in 2000 to 2001, superintendents were earning around 55% of what they earn now), senior seagoing officers are getting younger and liability insurers have been pointing to accidents caused by inexperience for a few years now. It’s no coincidence that TOTS was developed to provide a universal crew matrix focusing on verifying experience levels.”
The supply and demand situation has also encouraged the use of bonuses, according to Mr Parry. Ship managers and shipowners who employ both technical and commercial staff are recording bonuses at very similar levels, commonly in the range 10-30% of base salary, despite an understandable fall in 2009.
Spinnaker acts as the secretariat for the Maritime HR Forum, which is used by some 35 major shipping employers to benchmark salaries and benefits packages for 40 shorebased jobs. According to the Forum’s manager, Sharon O’Ryan, “It remains a point for debate as to what difference the bonus makes to individual performance and the ability to recruit new personnel when the focus tends to be on base salaries. However, once people get used to bonuses it’s very hard for employers to stop paying them.”