CONCLUSIONES

From the limited choice of applicants, employers were compelled to consider candidates whom they would previously not have short-listed. Besides affecting the competence and quality of seafarers, such downward adjustments of standards were sometimes linked to age (that is, choosing an older more experienced captain or a younger, less experienced one but with more energy to work with and motivate the

crew), medical history and prior records of performance in previous companies. The following quote illustrates the mood brought on by the downward revision of standards:

. . . we make the recruitment offer on the market and then we will have limited response of absolutely unqualified people who are just looking for anything. . . . So you are forced to change your recruitment strategy, you are forced to change your selection criteria, and at the end of the day you do not have even enough time for the selection because basically you have to man the ships, so you need to . . you will cut the corners on how the competencies or qualifications are being checked and how officers are being briefed or trained before they go on board because you simply don’t have time for it. (SC 04)

The above quote also directs attention to the time factor involved in the selection process. A lack of choice entails delays and a sense of haste, which then affects standards in terms of appropriate selection processes (such as background checks and the verification of the candidate).

The standards of maritime training institutions have also been thought to be compromised, this impacting on the quality of the officers produced. Some participants have indicated that they thought maritime training in recent years lacked rigour in terms of the amount of material taught and the depth of knowledge imparted. Here, their experiences were that many newly qualified junior officers were not ready to keep an independent watch (SC 10, SC 19). These new officers have also been found wanting in the area of developing safety consciousness. In addition to this, they felt this was partly contributed by the shortened duration of the training programme and sea service as stipulated by STCW. One participant (SC 15) commented that he had undergone a long schooling process in maritime training before reaching the rank of captain; in order to attain each of his Class 3, Class 2 and Class 1 deck certifications, he had six years of formal maritime education. Now, the equivalent training process can be completed in two years. Significantly, the reduction in sea service requirements by the STCW Convention coupled with reports about the fast track promotions of officers to fill gaps in ranks (mentioned above), meant that a poorer cumulative sea training and sea service experience had been gained.

Conclusion

The findings presented in this chapter demonstrate that key informants (employers, their representative bodies, and those working in the industry), drawing on their experience, account for the perceived shortage in the seafarer labour market in terms of a number of factors that arguably serve to differentiate seafarers into a heterogeneous group. In doing so, they appear in practice to be both constructing (producing) and responding to (reproducing) striations in the seafarer labour market. From the data, the key forms of differentiation identified emphasised labour market segmentation related to the seafarer and the company.

With regard to the seafarer, issues about the quality of labour place seafarers in varying strata of perceived skill. By mapping the varied issues related to labour quality, this chapter disclaimed the assumption of a purely numeric shortfall of seafaring labour. Hence, the prevalent opinion that there were sufficient numbers of trained seafaring

officers in the ‘competent qualified’ category but not enough of these were of the ‘quality’ that most employers were seeking. This was corroborated by accounts of

disparity in wages offered to seafarers. Further to the issue of wage differentials revealed nationality as a possible factor in labour market segmentation, as some nationalities of seafarers have been presumed to be better than others. Nationality was also pertinent in the trading routes of companies where some nationalities may be preferred over others. Wage disparities also showed how labour was more limited for certain segments of seafarers in certain ranks and those in certain sectors.

Labour market segmentation pertinent to the company also reflected quality as an issue. Exploration of the prevailing poaching situation showed that companies in different sectors demanded and paid for different quality seafarers. This indicated the presence of companies in top and lower end sectors, which differed in their ability to offer wages and other employment benefits to attract seafarers to them. Chapter Eight will further explore this issue of categories of companies. It will differentiate a dichotomy of companies which vary in their operational strategies: those that operate according to the profit factor and those that have a high regard for the quality factor (involving the quality of seafarers, ship maintenance, ship operations).

Companies may also be differentiated in terms of the length of time which they need to find crew for their vessels. The data indicated that the experience of a prolonged crewing timeline tends to vary with company size. Participants postulated that larger companies had the advantage of their size and resources to invest in regular programmes for training new officers and to upgrade existing ones. This ensures that they have a regular supply of labour and a reasonably large pool of seafarers from which they can deploy to crew their ships. Hence, they would experience prolonged crewing timelines less frequently because they are better able to plan for their labour needs.

The availability of a supposedly adequate pool of seafarers for larger companies seems to imply the existence of a primary labour market (as proposed by Doeringer and Piore, 1971) where seafarers are paid higher wages, have some semblance of job stability, and have the potential to advance in their careers. There is an apparent transition of the internal labour market of large companies from having characteristics of primary labour markets to being more reflective of secondary labour markets. The current internal labour market situation (see 3.1.1) has seen an apparent change in primary labour market characteristics because of changing seafarer employment from standard employment terms to the use of contractual employment.

The next chapter will go on to explore the differentiated nature of the seafaring labour

‘shortage’. Some of the issues mentioned here will therefore be revisited and examined

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Many Sides of the Seafarer ‘Shortage’:

A Variegated Context

Introduction

The previous chapter argued against a notion of an overall ‘shortage’ of seafarers, which suggests a quantitative and generic lack of seafaring officers. The chapter

indicated that the ‘shortage’ of seafarers could also be evidenced by various

characteristics other than those with a numeric gauge. This chapter will consider

companies’ specific experiences of the ‘shortage’ and uncover the segmented

characteristics of the labour market. The chapter is set out in three sections. It will first begin by contextualising the situation of the perceived ‘shortage’; the second section will examine segmentation of the labour market in terms of trade sectors, profitability, trade routes, clientele, nationality and rank. The third section will discuss the dynamic situation between the trade sectors and consider how the occupational mobility of seafarers affects these dynamics.