Shipping industry faces shortage of seafarers

FIJI can capitalise on the international demand for efficient shipping services by marketing and exporting seafarers especially at the officers' level.Acting chief executive

officer Maritime Safety, Josateki Tagi said Fiji's maritime sector was facing problems in maintaining local highly qualified deck and engineering officers to serve and man locally registered large vessels.
"It's not only Fiji that is facing a shortage of highly qualified officers but other countries like New Zealand and Australia are too.
"This was also confirmed by the International Maritime Organisation that there is indeed a shortage of seafarers, especially in the officers' level worldwide in the shipping industry," he said.
Mr Tagi said the traditional shipping world was shifting and going through its own reforms and as such the demand for faster and efficient shipping services, by the global population cannot be re-emphasised.
"In the local scene we are also having problems with the categories of masters, chief engineers for local registered large vessels such as Suilven, Sofi and Spirit of Harmony, unable to secure qualified officers.
"The exodus, high package and good working conditions offered by foreign shipping companies cannot be matched locally. A good example would be a seafarer getting five or six times more than what he gets locally. This is a huge gap, and we are thankful to the Fiji Maritime Worker Association for making the submission for a wage council to consider new wage guideline for seafarers. Hope this will improve the remuneration issue," he said.
Mr Tagi said there has been an indication and an intention by large local shipping operators to bring in large vessels above 3000GT and 3000KW Propulsion Power.
However he said without proper qualified officers approved by the Maritime Safety to serve as captains and chief engineers on these sizes of vessels would surely worsen the current officers' shortage problem.
Source: Fiji Times