Seafarer shortage pushes national resilience to the brink
A critical shortage of seafarers threatens Australia’s energy security, national defence and supply chain resilience requiring an urgent overhaul of maritime skills and training, according to a new report.
Commissioned by energy exploration and production company INPEX and supported by the Australian Resources & Energy Employer Association (AREEA) and leading maritime organisations – Maritime Industry Australia Limited (MIAL), the Australian Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (AIMPE), the Australian Maritime Officers Union (AMOU) and the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) – the Maritime Workforce Position Paper reveals:
- A major shortage of seafarers with the internationally-recognised qualifications required to service strategically significant Australian maritime assets.
- An ageing current workforce in desperate need of regeneration.
- A major funding shortfall for maritime skills training to meet the jobs’ gap.
These factors were identified as long ago as the 2013 Australian Maritime Workforce Development Strategy – which was delivered by the current Prime Minister as the then responsible Minister for Infrastructure and Transport.
INPEX Australia Senior Vice President Corporate Bill Townsend said Australia’s pool of seafarers declined by 23 per cent over the last year.
“We’re now seeing the demand for seafarers outstripping supply in circumstances approaching a flashpoint. This is a result of limited action in the past decade to ensure the training and crewing sustainability of the Australian shipping fleet,” Mr Townsend said.
Globally, the industry is predicting a need for up to 89,510 additional officers by 2026, a challenge magnified by the pandemic.
Mr Townsend said the shortfall had a direct impact on the capacity of the maritime workforce to meet the expansion and maintenance of Australia’s offshore oil and gas sector.
“And as Australia’s energy mix continues to diversify, there will be a severe shortage of maritime professionals to support offshore windfarms and to carry out important decommissioning work,” he said.
The report identifies poor training pathways as central to the nation’s inability to develop the maritime workforce needed – with myriad barriers and disincentives stymying education and skills’ development, such as high costs and a lack of access to berths to undertake the mandatory sea time.
It calls for a whole-of-government response and funding package from the Commonwealth to address proven pinch points in maritime education, training and retention; streamlining the complexity of current pathways and assisting with heavy costs stifling the pipeline of ratings, engineers and officers.
The Maritime Workforce Position Paper recommends four immediate actions to rectify current maritime workforce shortages, with two further recommendations over the next 3-5 years to ensure national resilience is not compromised.
- IMMEDIATE ACTION: Secure funding for retention, training and education in maritime workforce roles. Reduce or subsidise RTO fees, provide workforce support program.
- IMMEDIATE ACTION: Launch a targeted recruitment campaign to inspire and attract people with transferable skills into areas of maritime workforce demand.
- IMMEDIATE ACTION: Expand the talent pool by making existing STEM and technical vocation incentive programs available to people studying maritime qualifications.
- IMMEDIATE ACTION: Make seagoing berths available on all vessels controlled under Government and Government-related contracts.
- 3-5 YEAR ACTION: Standardise education, training and career pathways through establishing a national maritime training coalition with appropriate geographic distribution that facilitates effective maritime workforce development outcomes.
- 3-5 YEAR ACTION: Invest in technology and instructors to support optimisation of skills acquisition, development, and deployment for the maritime sector.
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