The 16 th. European MANNING & TRAINING CONFERENCE Dubrovnik, Croatia M. Sc. Capt. Waldemar Perchel
Demography of the European seafarer market The traditional ship owners disappearing from the scene replaced by institutional investors, Western Europe has lost seafarer tradition, Eastern European countries lost their fleet, Decades of shipping boom, but insufficient investment in people, Shore side industry has created job opportunities for ex seafarers, Shipyards and marine equipment producers and suppliers attracting officers, Offshore activity has attracted crew from merchant fleet, Regulatory pressures and security pressures, Multinational crew composition on board of the vessel, Negative publicity of shipping industry, Career at sea relatively unattractive, Shipping companies have scoured the globe for the cheapest seafarers, Insufficient cadet berths, Shipping industry has not invested in training and education, Seafarers 'supply countries not much invested in education, English language problem to fully use the eastern countries as HR areas (Russia, Ukraine etc.).
Demography of the European seafarer market REGION SEAFARERS supply % World wide West Europe 129 700 9,80 East Europe 235 900 17,84 EUROPE 365 600 27,65 Fair East/India 559 800 42,33 Other 397 000 30,02 Estimated Total 1 322 400 100,00
The East European seafarer market COUNTRY 18 % of Sefarers are comming from East European countries 50 % of them are officers Country population OFFICERS RATINGS TOTAL Poland 38,5 mln 18 000 10 000 28 000 Romania 19,0 mln 15 000 6 000 21 000 Croatia 4,3 mln 11 000 8 000 19 000 Bulgaria: 7,4 mln 7 000 11 000 18 000 Latvia 2,0 mln 6 000 9 000 15 000 Lithuania 3,0 mln 3 000 2 500 5 500 Estonia 1,3 mln 3 000 6 000 9 000 Slovakia 5,6 mln 400 600 1 000 Ukraine 45,5mln 35 500 40 000 75 500 Russia 143,4 mln 25 000 34 500 59 500 Estimated Total 123 900 127 600 251 500
The East European seafarer market Shipping Company expectations from seafarers Navigating 300 Metres long vessel with high speed Knowing behaviour of large vessels on heavy seas, shallow woters and narow chanels Supervising huge machinery with sophisticated automation systems Operate Dynamic Positioning Systems, ROV Knowing ARPA, GMDSS, ECDIS,GPS Monitoring the functions and status of refrigerated or cryogenic cargo Monitoring of LNG, LPG and IG Monitoring HAZMAT and variety of chemicals Knew an International regulations and legal requirements Knew local regulations and requirement Deal with security of the cargo and a vessel
The East European seafarer market Shipping Company expectations Source: Dohle Manning Agencies Network
The East European seafarer market Officers numbers, 1995 v 2010 Supply Country Officer Numbers BIMC/ISF 1995 Officer Numbers Drewry/PAL 2010 Difference % Difference Poland 5 500 18 000 14 500 227% Romania 4 500 18 500 14 000 311% Ukraine 14 000 27 500 13 500 96% Croatia 6 500 12 000 5 500 85% Latvia 6 000 5 500-500 -8% Bulgaria 2 000 7 000 5 000 250% Philippines 49 500 57 500 8 000 16% India 20 000 46 500 26 500 132% Source: Drewry/ PAL
The East European seafarer market Country Average yearly income in the country ( ) Average yearly income C/O & 2/ENG Ratio between sea/shore earnings Lithuania 13 851 33 200 2,40 Estonia 11 748 33 200 2,83 Poland 11 659 33 200 2,85 Latvia 10 488 33 200 3,17 Romania 6 286 28 800 4,58 Bulgaria 3 556 28 800 8,10 Russia 2 909 23 040 7,92 Ukraine 1 980 22 400 11,31 Philippines 1 151 19 282 16,75
Cadets berths offered by European shipowners and shipmanagers The people who choose the seaman career option need to be trained It surely make sense for companies to be investing in countries with long-standing records of quality training than to bring cheap crews up to basic standards. The success in education and training is a cooperation or partnering between the ship-owners, managements, Maritime Academies, state bodies, manning agencies and other maritime business institutions. I want to remind you that there are a numbers of suitable training centres and marine universities in the East Europe with high level of training and this need to be used.
Cadets berths offered by European shipowners and shipmanagers Country Marine Academies Graduates (2012 est.) Poland 5 613 Romania 2 1082 Lithuania 1 140 Slovakia 1 12 Latvia 2 200 Estonia 2 200 Bulgaria 2 270 Croatia 10 730 Russia 12 1 000 Ukraine 11 7 453 Sumary 47 11 700 Philippines 120 10 000 India 50 6 250 The growth in regulations and the amount of complicated paperwork required to be filled in and checked by seafarers has meant that more than ever before seafarers need a solid education and good English language to achieve this task.
Cadets berths offered by European shipowners and shipmanagers In order to acquire competitiveness and business excellence in shipping, the management of the maritime company should state a clear vision so that the crew members can understand the expectations of management. Cadets Employment in years 2010-2012 East European Countries Poland Slovakia Romania Latvia Bulgaria Croatia Ukraine Crewing Agencies 118 1 104 56 35 15 219 Answered 35 1 5 1 1 none cadets 8 2010 469 52 136 13 46 2011 632 58 160 34 72 2012 602 44 97 49 83 Please note that in acc to information received from the biggest manning agencies of Ukraine, the amount of cadets ( deck, engine, electr) are close to zero. These positions are very seldom for Ukrainians- unfortunately.
Cadets berths offered by European shipowners and shipmanagers To maintain success in today crisis period, investment and innovation in recruitment and training programs must continue in order to achieve a competitive status. Used on a large scale, seafarers recruitment training programmes can give a competitive edge. Their aim is to select and equip new entrants to the maritime industry with the skills and knowledge to pursue a career at sea and to perform their jobs better. The training programmes are also essential to gain new set of skills and knowledge for seafarers career transition.
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market The centre of the seafarers market has continued to shift from the traditional maritime countries of western Europe, Japan and North America towards the Eastern Europe Far East, and Indian sub-continent. This transition isn t matched by any strategy, plan, preparation or coordination to match the magnitude of work involved.
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market The East European countries have the fastest proportional increase in officer supply over the period of 15 years. There were not established any Maritime Academy owning, leading by Shipping Company, as have many cases in Phillipines as an sample. Poland with its three Baltic neighbours, Romania & Bulgaria - were and there are important suppliers of competent seafarers at affordable wages to European shipowners and operators. East European officers with good education background, through a years were invested their money and vacation time for professional courses, increasing and updating their qualification, knowledge and skills. But, please be aware that East European seafarers are progressively less competitive compared to Asian/Far East nationals, who may not be of the best quality but are considered good enough to do the job.
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market The observations shows that the East European students are: English speaking, well trained, designated to seafarers career, prepared for multinational crew environment, prepared for physical work, ambitious and prepared to meet their future ship handling requirements. Reserch from Poland shows the following: 77 % wants to continue their sea career for more them 10 years. 75 % wants to be an officer after graduation maritime school 95 % prefers European ship-owners and managements, 95 % wants to works wit European Officers
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market Ukraine Good seafarers tradition Sufficient education and training facilities Poor English knowledge for senior officers Corruption. Will continues to provide a large pool of labour, keen to earn foreign currency and pursue a meaningful career Russia Russia continues to maintain a relatively large national-flag fleet, Seafarers continue to specialize on ice class ships, tankers, but are also widely employed on the international fleet. Ukraine and Russia remain as serious competitors for the Asian region.
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market Asian countries Nowadays supplying officers in large numbers to the international maritime industry. The major crew supplying nations are India, Philippines and China, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam and Myanmar. The main challenge for the Asian countries will be to improve the maritime education and training institutions. The numbers of recruits needs to be increased and the quality of teaching needs to be improved to follow with the rapidly changing shipping industry Governments in Asia will need to providing a welcoming environment to ship operating companies and by making laws that assist the employing companies
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market India has been gaining market share for officers especially in the specialised vessel sectors. The country is widely recognised as a : - good source of officers for the tanker and gas sectors. - salaries at senior positions constantly increase - domestic industry faces a shortage of at least 1,000 officers China has potential as a seafarer supply country for international labour market - maritime academies have a various standard - the Chinese shipping companies has absorbed most of supply - the officers generally leave sea life very quickly for shore jobs - seafaring is not considered like a great career choice - availability of officers for foreign companies are very limited
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market The Philippines The quality of the recruits in some cadet academies leaves much to the desired. The majority of Filipino seafarers are ratings. The percentage of junior officers who are able to clear the tightened examination systems is extremely low. A lack of the supply of officers especially senior ranks is the main concern in the country. Philippines remains, in overall terms, the single largest and popular international seafarer supply nation in the world.
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market Small Cntr vessel Exch. Rate $/E 2 Engineer 1.31 1.27 EU (Poles, Romanian) 4,800 $6,288 $6,096 Ukrainian, Russian $6,100 $6,100 $6,100 Filipino $6,100 $6,100 $6,100
Asian seafarer market vs. European seafarer market I would say that the full potential of Asian seafarers, to replace the officers from Europe is not yet fully realistic. In my opinion nowadays there isn t one seafarer source to fulfil ship owner s requirements for supply well qualified officers especially nowadays when we have not much to offer. The real shortage is going to bite soon Are we prepared? Do we have a plan? Do we have a money?
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