Nautilus co-founder warns that the next generation expect better than what is on offer right now
An Indian ship manager is calling for shipping to change its crewing practices if it wants to see the next generation of sea-going candidates in traditional crewing source markets. Shorter contracts, better living conditions and some respect are all factors that Narayan Rajan, co-founder and managing director of India-based ship and crew management company Nautilus Shipping, says are needed for the industry to forge a future-proof workforce.
Economic development and growth in the main seafarer sourcing countries such as India and the Philippines have raised the base level of what the younger generations in these countries want to get out of their lives and careers, Rajan said on the sidelines of the TradeWinds Shipowners Forum in Singapore. Rajan noted that in previous times a career as a seafarer was deemed a premium job in these countries due to the higher wages it offered compared to jobs ashore. But he noted that economic development has now created other avenues through which people can make the same or better money.
“There are a lot of good opportunities out there,” he said.
“Having said that, it’s not just the money. It is also the living conditions, and the sorts of conditions that seafarers have to go through,” he explained.
“What we should be doing for crew is to really try to make their life a lot easier while they are running these vessels,” he said.
Rajan stressed that the standard industry practice of issuing nine-month employment contracts for seafarers needs to change. Contract durations should not exceed four to five months, he said. “They are working on board for nine months or more. You can’t put seafarers on vessels on such a long-term basis. I don’t see that to be a very efficient way for them to be performing at a reasonable level,” he said. This is especially important given that, with modern vessels trading patterns with short port calls, often at industrial locations far from towns or cities, seafarers are for the most part trapped on board their vessels for the duration of their contracts.
“The industry needs to be able to figure out better ways of arranging repatriation. Ports need to be open to allow them to get out, even if only take some shore leave,” Rajan argued. He also stressed the need to improve living conditions at sea. Crew accommodation must meet the lifestyle requirements that the younger generations have become accustomed to ashore.
“Most ships nowadays are very basic because they’ve been optimizing so much of the space that people live in really bad conditions,” he said.
“What is happening is that the social camaraderie doesn’t exist anymore. Everyone is isolated. You need to be able to create that camaraderie.
“I think more importance should be given around trying to make sure that crews get reasonably good welfare, whether it’s in the form of Wi Fi, or in the form of things that they can do socially on board the vessel, and space to be able to do that.
“It could be a recreation room, it could be a gym, it could be a swimming pool, it could be a bunch of these things,” he said, noting that such spaces used to be features on ships in the past but have all-but disappeared from most today.
Finally, Rajan asserted that there needs to be a return of respect for seafarers, especially from authorities worldwide.
“There was a time that seafarers had a certain level of respect that was equal to that of airline staff. That needs to come back, along with recognition that they do form a huge part of essential service workers,” he said. Rajan revealed that vessel managers still face enormous difficulties arranging the visas needed to get seafarers to where they need to be. Waiting times to arrange seafarer visas range from 10 days for the US to as much as 30 days for Schengen countries or China. “If you don’t get them in on a fast track, you can’t get them into situations where they are needed in emergencies. We find ourselves in situations in which one of our crew has an emergency and needs to get back home, but for me sending a replacement gets complicated without the visa, which wasn’t the case before,” he said.
Summing up, Rajan said the industry needs to wake up and realize the next generation of seafarers have alternative jobs opportunities they can pursue in which they don’t need to be treated in the manner that seafarers are being treated today.
Read the full article published on TradeWinds: https://www.tradewindsnews.com/ship-management/it-s-not-just-about-the-money-seafarers-need-better-treatment-if-industry-wants-seagoing-workforce/2-1-1800390
Leave a Reply