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MINIMUM crewing scales are too low and should be revised upwards, according to Anglo-Eastern Ship Management Services.
“We strongly believe that the minimum manning scales need to be reviewed and the scales must be revised upwards and not downwards anymore,” said Pradeep Chawla, director quality assurance and training, based in Hong Kong.
Capt Chawla was addressing a seminar in London on the Problem of the Global Shortage of Seafarers and the role of the Shipping Industry through CSR activities, organised by the Nippon Foundation and Japan International Transport Institute.
He told delegates that the increase in workload on ships’ crews mean that the existing crewing scales are no longer realistic, even though a rise could exacerbate the officer shortage.
“Seafarers have been burdened with many new tasks over the last two decades. The manning scales have not looked deeply enough on the consequences on watchkeeping and safety standards onboard.” He added that the shortage of properly qualified and motivated professionals is worse than the numbers show.
Capt Chawla told the conference that the time may have come to re-introduce Pursers or Administrative officers to take on some of the mountains of paperwork that senior officers now face and risk distracting them from their key operational roles. “Seafarers want to do an honest job and generally are hardworking professionals. The call that we hear is that enough is enough. They cannot take on additional tasks without additional manpower.”
Apart from the increasing strains and associated risks for seafarers Capt Chawla suggested that the widespread perception of long hours of work is not presenting a good image for the industry in its efforts to recruit young people.
The Anglo-Eastern director said that his company has adopted a number of measures to retain officers, including offering long-term employment contracts, which has boosted its retention rate to over 85%, free unlimited crew email with broadband being installed on every vessel. “These things are easy to provide but they make a big difference,” he said.
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12.05.2010
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