Faststream Chief Executive Officer Mark Charman said “We’ve been active in the UK oil and gas sector since 2002 and I’m delighted that we will now be able to offer our clients a globally integrated service.”

“We have a strong database of candidates, a detailed knowledge of the industry and a team of proven specialist consultants so there is a strong structure behind this expansion”.

Faststream will service the market for upstream, midstream and downstream candidates on behalf of clients throughout the world. The group’s headhunting division The Meeting House will undertake specialist oil and gas search assignments.

Predicting that world seaborne trade will increase by a factor of 2.5 from 29,043 billion ton-miles in 2005 to 72,498 billion ton-miles in 2050, the OPRF says 830,000 seafarers will be required in 2050 “as a result of the increased number of vessels. If we assume that the supply of seafarers will remain the same as at present, the total will be 364,000 short of the required number,” it claims.

By 2050, the OPRF says that container shipments will show a particularly sharp rise during the period of just under six times that of 2005 levels to register 2,894bn teu-miles by 2050.

Predictions regarding intra-regional transportation show that shipments within Asia will increase by a factor of 10.7 from 18bn teu-miles in 2005 to 194bn teu-miles in 2050.

“However, these increases in global and regional seaborne trade are expected to cause heavy maritime traffic congestion and a shortage of skilled seafarers. Accordingly, there may be a corresponding increase in the number of accidents, posting severe risks in terms of safety and the environment,” it says (source: www.www.shipmanagementinternational.com).

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]]> http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/11/01/up-to-364000-seafarer-shortfall-by-2050-says-tokyo-think-tank/feed/ 0 http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/10/04/maersk-to-replace-170-danish-junior-officers-with-asian-officers/ http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/10/04/maersk-to-replace-170-danish-junior-officers-with-asian-officers/#comments Mon, 05 Oct 2009 00:27:49 +0000 admin http://www.thinkmaritime.com/?p=1076 A P Møller-Mærsk will replace 170 Danish junior officers on Danish flagged container carriers with Asian officers in order to reduce costs relating to the running of the ships. “We have to look at all costs. The replacement will be done on a voluntary basis after negotiations with the employees involved”, explains Henrik Sloth, Marine HR manager in A P Møller-Mærsk.

The decision has shocked the Danish shipping community. Ship officer students at Svendborg and Marstal carried out a media stunt, putting up Villa Anna – the house where Mr A P Møller founded the company – for sale.

A P Møller-Mærsk has 3,000 officers employed, of whom 800 are Danish citizens. “I don’t think that the 800 Danes are any better than the 2,200 officers of foreign nationality”, says Henrik Sloth. It has not yet been revealed if the 170 Danes are to be laid off or transferred to other units within the group, or offered land employment (source: www.ShipGaz.com).

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The layoffs are expected to begin by Oct. 30, according to a mass layoff notice filed Aug. 25 with the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development.

Sturgeon Bay-based Bay Shipbuilding is a manufacturer of marine vessels, dredges, and dredging support equipment, along with bulk cargo self-unloading systems. The company is a subsidiary of Fincantieri Marine Group LLC of Marinette.

The company previously announced a small number of temporary layoffs at the Sturgeon Bay facility that were expected to be less than six months in duration. However, recent business conditions have necessitated an extension of the earlier layoffs, as well as additional furloughs, according to the company.

“The company is continuing to try to mitigate these layoffs by aggressively seeking new business,” the notice states.

If business conditions improve, layoffs to the extent indicated in the filing may not be necessary, company management said (www.bizjournals.com).

]]> http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/08/25/bay-shipbuilding-to-lay-off-405-employees/feed/ 0 http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/07/27/the-worst-jobs-in-history-the-maritime-age-part-3/ http://www.thinkmaritime.com/2009/07/27/the-worst-jobs-in-history-the-maritime-age-part-3/#comments Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:12:51 +0000 admin http://www.thinkmaritime.com/?p=981

The seagoing recruitment division has been established due to the high demand for this type of service from Faststream’s shipping clients. Headquartered in Faststream’s North East base in Massachusetts, the seagoing division will also operate through Faststream’s other US regional headquarters in Fort Lauderdale and Houston.

The division has already been launched in Faststream’s global headquarters in the UK. Planned future expansion will see this business area span across other Faststream operations in the Asia-Pacific and Scandinavia.

Heather Twiss will be heading up the seagoing division throughout The Americas. Heather was the former Director of Career Services at Massachusetts Maritime Academy where she provided career guidance and placement opportunities to both cadets and alumni in both seagoing and shore-side maritime employment opportunities. She is also a graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy and has sailed on seismic vessels.

Mark Charman, Group CEO and Founder said:

“This is an exciting chapter in Faststream’s development. Although this is our first planned step into the seagoing market we’re certainly not wet behind the ears. We are shipping people through and through and our specialist consultants hold a wealth of knowledge of the shipping industry in its entirety”.

“Our business is based around supply and demand. Our clients have a huge demand for seagoing staff. The quantity of enquiries we’ve received about providing seagoing recruitment over the years had reached a level where launching a stand alone seagoing division was a must”.

“From what we hear, the seagoing market lacks a quality recruitment model. Industry knowledge is all very well but it’s critical that this is combined with best recruitment practice and Faststream are in a perfect position to provide both” (source: www.faststream.us).

Some shipping companies have told the U.S. Maritime Administration that the problem has forced them to dock or even sell vessels. Others said it has kept them from expanding fleets, or caused delayed voyages and lost contracts.

A cross-section of the maritime industry has been affected to varying degrees, from oil tankers and bulk cargo haulers to tugs, barges and ferries.

“It’s not limited to any region or any nation. It is a global challenge,” Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton said.

That includes the Great Lakes, where ships carry iron ore, coal and limestone to factories and pick up Midwestern grain for transport overseas.

“We look to hire four to six new officers every year, and every year we can’t get them,” said Ed Wiltse, vice president of operations for Grand River Navigation, which has five cargo haulers.

Wiltse prefers officers trained especially for the Great Lakes, but sometimes must hire saltwater vessel operators on a short-term basis. “We’ve had to fly in people at the last minute from Florida or Seattle and get them to a ship so it can leave,” he said.

The situation has been developing for years and has many causes. Some point to licensing and training requirements that have gotten tougher, along with beefed-up safety standards and greater use of computers and other technology.

“The days of people just being able to jump on a ship and get a job are long gone,” said Glen Nekvasil, spokesman for the Lake Carriers Association, a trade group representing Great Lakes shippers.

With international commerce picking up, more goods are being transported by water, so there are more job openings. Stepped-up offshore oil exploration is boosting demand for ships and crews.

And the work force is gradually aging, as veteran mariners retire and fewer young people get aboard. Many in the industry say going to sea has less allure for youths than in previous generations.

One turnoff is spending months at a time away from home.

“You don’t go home at 5 o’clock and kiss the wife and ask Billy, ‘How was your school day?’” Nekvasil said.

A one-time attraction — lengthy, entertaining stopovers in exotic ports — is mostly a memory because of automation and greater efficiency.

“In New York, 50 years ago you could go right into Manhattan and tie up at the Chelsea Piers and spend a week loading or unloading,” Connaughton said. “Now you go to the container yard at Port Elizabeth (N.J.), out near the Meadowlands. Nothing’s there but the port, and 10 hours later you’re gone anyway.”

Yet a seafaring career still has plenty to offer.

For one thing, as the unemployment rate climbs, the maritime industry is hiring.

It has taken a hit from the downturn, like other sectors of the economy. But the maritime administration says about 10,000 replacements are needed in the graying officer corps, and a U.S. Coast Guard study predicts shipping trade will double or triple by 2020.

Pay and benefits can be generous. The Great Lakes Maritime Academy in Traverse City, which trains prospective officers for civilian and commercial vessels, says it has a 100-percent placement rate for graduates in positions with starting salaries averaging $10,000 per month.

Great Lakes mariners typically are on the water only six to eight months a year, so they can spend the rest of their time at home — or working elsewhere.

Tom Orzechowski, a vice president of the Seafarers International Union based in Algonac, Mich., said the industry and government should do better at recruiting youths — especially those considering the military. “We’re a strong alternative to joining the armed services,” he said.

Recruitment and apprenticeship initiatives are under way. The Seafarers union started a 20-week program several years ago to help unlicensed seamen earn promotions to mate.

The Great Lakes academy, overlooking Lake Michigan’s Grand Traverse Bay, is one of six state schools for officers. Enrollment this semester is 116 but there’s room for more than 200, Superintendent John Tanner said.

Cadets train as deck officers — responsible for navigation and cargo handling — or engineering officers, who deal with engines, maintenance and equipment.

The curriculum blends classroom lectures with hands-on instruction. Computer-driven ship handling simulators help cadets learn the finer points of piloting 1,000-foot freighters through narrow channels.

The academy also has a 225-foot training ship, a one-time Navy and Coast Guard surveillance vessel where students get real-life experience on the Great Lakes.

Sean Schmelzer, 27, one of several cadets living aboard the ship, graduates in May with licenses that will document his seaworthiness. To Schmelzer, they’ll represent “my passport to my workplace being the whole world.”

“The first time I set foot on a boat,” he said, “I knew it was for me” (source: http://news.moneycentral.msn.com).

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Loland is also collaborating with the Maritime Events Limited and the Regional Maritime University in Accra, Ghana to organise the second African manning and training conference in Ghana next month.

According to the master mariner and consultant, the moment African countries begin to act consciously against corruption in their educational system to correct the negative impression that Africans are going about with fake certificate, the continent will become an alternative source of maritime labour in the world.

Speaking with The Guardian on the forth coming conference in Ghana, Loland said there are negative impressions about African countries in foreign countries, adding that the negative impressions have hitherto made it impossible to recognise the maritime workers even those who acquired their certificate genuinely.

“African countries lack qualifying educational institution and this coupled with the impression about Africa by other countries. There are pirates in Somalia, there is militancy in Nigeria, and you can not see negative things about other countries. There is this impression about low educational standard, there is no international shipping company in Africa, the existing ones are into coastal operations”

Fielding questions on the need to employ the available and qualified seafarers in Africa by foreign ship owners, Loland said those who have genuine qualification would need to defend their certificate and to tell the world that they have been trained to international standard

“If you are qualified and can prove it, you will get a job. There should be no fear about employment. One way to prove it is showing papers and the other is to express ability. All these should be accepted internationally”, he said

The Norwegian maritime consultant, who took a clean swipe at the African maritime sector, lamented that the continent has a viable coast line only very few of the citizens are in the international maritime labour market

He said the continent of Africa has a long way to go in the attempts to meet up with advanced maritime nations, adding that within the continent seafarers are still being looked upon as inexperience and with low level of education

“When I talk to ship owners here they said Nigerians lack experience, they said the country lacks educated seamen. Many Nigerians go to Ghana for training because the Nigerian certificates are not recognised by other countries. Africa has a long coast line but only few Africans are in the international seafarers market. Why are there few Africans on board ships? What can we do to change this? How can we create jobs? We can improve Africa as an area where you can take seamen from”.

Continuing, he said: What I am seeing personally is a long, long way to go for Africa,” adding that countries in the continent would need to begin to organise properly, put in place a system to avoid fraud and corruption which are in all countries but more in magnitude in Africa, they will need to come up with proper documentation. They will need to eradicate a situation “when if you go to school and you can say I have so much money, can you give a certificate,” Africa doesn’t have a specialised maritime institution, I mean the institution that can go into the specifics in maritime”

Commenting on the Ghana conference, he said it was on training and manning, adding that those things that would make Africa an alternative source of manning and crewing would be looked into with the view of finding out the problem area for correction so that the country could become a viable place to source maritime labour in the world.

“The conference in Ghana is about maritime training and manning, to make Africa a new continent for seafarers and maritime crewing source

The foreign master mariner, who said he has been involved in the training of the youths from the Niger Delta, as seafarer lamented the continue domination of the seafaring business in Africa by the Indians and the Philippines

“Today most crew comes from Asia and former east block countries. Only very few from Africa. What we will like to achieve with conference is to make Africa a new continent for the supply of crew vessels, we want to find out the requirement to become a sailor, what are the shipping companies are looking for? Why Africans are not being taken as sailors by ship owners? Is there anything wrong with educational system or is there anything wrong with the impression about Africa? When we asked these questions, then we have to find answers as to the reasons why Africana are not involved. The Philippines are dominating. The other countries are India, China”

The second maritime manning and training conference in Ghana is expected to be chaired by former Executive Director of O. T African Lines, Mr. Asoma Banda. According to the organisers, the event billed to begin on March 10, is targeted at ship owners from the continent.

This is the first private initiative aimed at generating interest in the maritime issues especially maritime labour matters. The first of the conference took place in Abuja about four years ago and was attended then by the Secretary General of the International Organisation. It was organised by the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the defunct National Maritime Authority, now National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (source: www.ngrguardiannews.com).