May 12, 2005

NZ FACING A CRIPPLING SHORTAGE OF MARITIME PERSONNEL

Sky-high costs and increasingly dangerous ports will be commonplace in New Zealand if nothing is done to address the looming shortage in maritime and seafaring personnel.

Director of the New Zealand Maritime School Tim Wilson says the international maritime industry is facing an acute shortage of maritime expertise. This seagoing experience is needed to facilitate seaborne trade, a critical feature of the New Zealand economy with $26.6 billion of exports and $27.3 billion of imports being carried by sea in the year ending February 2005.

Captain Wilson says the shipping industry and government needs to urgently address the problems caused by the lack of new entrant training in New Zealand over the past 25 years with a combined range of training initiatives.

“The existing shortage is about to get much worse with around 70 per cent of all current maritime expertise (including experienced seafarers) due to retire within the next decade. This will leave ports and shipping companies to face the reality of a dangerous lack of investment in training programmes.”

He says this lack of investment is already being seen internationally in the dramatic increase in the number of insurance claims made in relation to maritime situations (serious claims have increased 100 per cent over the past five years) as well as by the increase in port and harbour-related shipping accidents.

“The critical shortage of quality on-shore maritime expertise means that most shore-based employers, including port companies, the Maritime Safety Authority and the Maritime School itself, have had to recruit from overseas in the past three years, after being unable to recruit locally.

“There have been several incidents of new immigrants being employed in New Zealand whose competence is questionable, but who were employed because they had valid certificates and no one else was available.”

He says that while New Zealand is part of a global problem, its location and the lack of opportunities here mean it is likely to be particularly hard hit by the serious international shortage of qualified people which will become much worse before 2010.

There is a high demand for expertise in most countries and a very competitive international recruitment market which is leading to rapidly increasing remuneration rates.

Captain Wilson says it is uncertain that New Zealand will be able to consistently attract the calibre of expertise that it requires. There is also a significant risk that existing expertise will migrate to other countries through enhanced opportunities and higher salaries, with Australia being a significant threat.

His suggestion is that future training costs be shared more equitably and that an industry-training scheme be introduced. This should be done using a modern cadetship system with shore-based training costs being shared between the trainee through course fees and the government through tertiary education funding.

For further information:
Tim Wilson
New Zealand Maritime School
Telephone: 09 379 4997