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).

www.MaritimeJobSearch.com | Shipping, Transportation, and Engineering Jobs

The Bush appointee in an interview with The Journal of Commerce Online during his last day at Marad said that the idea of short sea shipping has gained a firm foothold in the national transportation policy debate, and that the new Congress and incoming Obama administration are ready to take the next step.“We’ve made substantial progress on the marine highways program, and made it a legitimate alternative to surface transportation,” Connaughton said. “We just don’t have the money or the resources to pave our way out of our congestion, or energy and environmental troubles. We’re going to have to look to the waterways to move more freight. That’s on the table. We’ve been able to show that not only it’s needed, but to lay the groundwork for expansion.”

Marad has made progress, Connaughton said, in opening new job opportunities for American mariners in domestic and foreign fleets.

“I think we’re going to see a great expansion of that,” Connaughton said. “We’ve heard nothing but extremely positive feedback from shipowners and managers who hire Americans.”

Officially Connaughton’s appointment ends with the inauguration of Barack Obama on Jan. 20. The President-elect has selected James Caponiti, a longtime career official at the Department of Transportation and currently an assistant administrator at Marad, to assume the agency’s top management job.

Connaughton said he is considering several possibilities for the future. He said he would like to find an executive position within the maritime industry.

“We have been what we were supposed to be, an advocate for the industry and its interests,” Connaughton said (source: joc.com).

The survey was undertaken by undertaken by international shipping recruiter Faststream whose managing director Mark Charman said that 58% of the respondents agreed that recruitment was a big challenge. He said: “Vacancy levels in the shore-based LNG sector are at a record high and we forecast them to continue growing. Employers face competition for talent not only from direct competitors, but also banks and power companies who need people with specialist marine engineering know-how.”

Competition for those with seafaring LNG experience was “fierce” and that rising salaries at sea were setting expectations ashore. He added: “The ongoing uncertainty driven by the credit crunch has led to candidates being much less willing to take a chance and relocate to a new company. The promise of large bonuses is failing to attract candidates, with base salary a far more important factor.”

Mr Charman advised LNG shipping companies and terminal operators to change their attitude to recruitment strategies and to take a lead from other industries when seeking to hire top talent in a candidate short market (source: mglobal.com)

“This data indicates that the job market for merchant marine officers remains robust. There is a growing, worldwide demand for fully-trained merchant marine officers and licensed mariners. Excellent training combined with ongoing global trade expansion will continue to make the graduates of U.S. maritime colleges among the most qualified and employable mariners in the world,” said U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton.

Total employment for 2008 licensed graduates is over 95% including shore side employment. Great Lakes in Michigan even placed 100% of its 2008 graduates in maritime afloat employment.

The Maritime Administration operates the U.S Merchant Marine Academy which is a federal services academy. The Maritime Administration provides funds and training ships to Maine, Massachusetts, Texas, California, Great Lakes Maritime Academies, and the State University of New York Maritime College. The state maritime academies are all part of their respective state higher education systems.

I am curious about the data for all other maritime academies in the rest of the world!

Please see below a table with the employment results for the U.S. Maritime Academies.

Employment for 2008 Graduates of U.S. Maritime Colleges: August 2008

The conference in 2001 identified six principal issues impacting recruitment and retention:

1] Public education and awareness;
2] Regulatory burden of STCW 95;
3] Criminal liability;
4] Maritime policy, tax relief and other incentives;
5] Lifestyle and quality of life issues;
6] Recruitment/Career path.

Six working groups were set up to tackle each of these issues.

The final report ‘Maritime Careers: Implementing the Action Plans for Recruiting and Retaining American Mariners’ was presented May 1-2, 2002.

What has happened since this date and are these issues still valid?

Everyone that has heart for the maritime and marine industry knows that the BIMCO/ISF Manpower Updates are regarded as the most comprehensive assessment of global supply and demand for merchant seafarers.

The December 2005 Update had two main purposes: to describe the current worldwide supply and demand situation for seafarers, and to make predictions for 5-10 years ahead to assist the industry anticipate changes and to take appropriate action.

What appropriate action has been taken since 2001 and even before 2001?

According to BIMCO/ISF, there will be a shortage of around 27,000 officers in 2015, the magic year. This number will increase unless maritime training will be increased and measures are taken to address wastage rates. The ratings, on the contrary, will have a surplus of around 167,000 ratings.

You would conclude that simply training the ratings solves the officers shortage problem in 2015?

Best regards,

Dirk Meuzelaar | Managing Director

MaritimeJobSearch.com