Seatime should not be like jailtime 30 August 2007 Lloyds List A DISTURBING, if not specially surprising, headline in the Mission to Seafarer’s newspaper The Sea catches the eye: “Working at sea is like being in prison, say some seafarers.” Perhaps it always was, at least in some ships and some trad...

Call to seize ‘golden opportunity’ on cadet training to prevent crisis Marcus Hand, 10 September 2007 Lloyds List BOTH shipowners and managers are calling for immediate action to train more seafarers, and warning that the shortage of officers is set to get worse in the next couple of years Speaking ...

Manning crisis brews perfect storm for energy sector Jon Guy, 12 September 2007 Lloyds List THE endemic shortage of qualified crews has dominated the second day of the IUMI conference, with a warning that the US energy market could be facing a crisis. In an unprecedented session, senior members of t...

Shipowners blasted for poor crewing standards James Brewer, 12 September 2007 Lloyds List SHIPOWNERS have been issued with a resounding warning about their neglect of crewing standards. The crisis is threatening the wider industry as it invests increasingly heavily in sophisticated 21st century ship...

Fears raised over dredging crew shortages James Brewer, 13 September 2007 Lloyds List A WORLD shortage of quality crew in the marine dredging sector is a concern for protection and indemnity insurers, says William Tobin, an underwriter with Shipowners Protection, a member of the International Group ...

Insurers and owners fear crew shortage Denzil Stuart, 13 September 2007 Lloyds List BIGGER yachts, bigger sleek and bigger glitz just about sums up the visual impact of the Monaco Yacht Show. But behind all the razzle-dazzle the owners and charterers are facing a problem that is escalating by the da...

DNV suggests incompetence among crews is behind rise in accidents Rajesh Joshi, 22 March 2007 Lloyds List GROWING incompetence among crews, possibly brought on by new recruits, poor retention and overworked seafarers, could be the reason behind an increase in the frequency of serious maritime accide...

Cash ‘not answer to crewing crisis’ 23 March 2007 Lloyds List PAYING “top dollar” seafarer salaries does not guarantee loyalty and is not the answer to the industry’s crewing crisis, according to a panel of experts, writes Rajesh Joshi. The way to redress the problem is to foster lifelong “contracts...

Greg Hayden from California, offers us his insight as an engineer a few years back in a recent Marine L list post... "1960 I shipped out in the fcsle, got my Original Thirds March 1966. Mid year 1967 I got a Temporary Second, my Permanent Second in 1968. Temporary First, 1969. Permanent First 1...

Funny. I have never heard the Japanese complaining of crew shortages. Yet they are actually doing something about, it instead of blowing hot air and crying for attention. - Martin MOL Training Vessel SPIRIT OF MOL Launched Tokyo July 2, 2007 - Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. yesterday launched its first t...

Crew recruitment in state of crisis By Denzil Stuart, 11 July 2007 Lloyds List CREW recruitment, training and retention is no longer a problem — it is in a state of crisis, according to Ole Wikborg, director of the Norwegian Hull Club. Speaking at a recent Nordic marine insurance seminar organised b...

Union goes head to head with owners By David Osler, 17 July 2007 Lloyds List NAUTILUS UK — the British officers’ union — has criticised what it brands shipowner and flag state pressure to introduce greater flexibility between deck and engine departments, and between officer and rating grades. The is...

Shipping lines must be allowed to hire foreign crew to tide over the manpower crisis The Hindu Business Line, Shubhra Tandon, N. K. Kurup 22/07/07 One of the major issues Ms Kiran Dhingra has been trying to tackle ever since she took over as the Director-General of Shipping more than a year ago is t...

Capt. Harman Sandhu offers some insight from Canada in a recent entry to this Marine L email list... "In my opinion there is no shortage of officers in the merchant fleet any where in the world. Otherwise no seafarer would be at home trying to find employment. The shortage is of cheap (inexpens...

Training the trainers 30 July 2007 Lloyds List THE industry is facing a serious manning crisis, without a doubt. It has not appeared suddenly, like a tsunami, but has been forecast for many years, not least by the International Shipping Federation-BIMCO studies and their five-yearly updates. These, ...