Jobs go abegging for fear of pirates

The Indian shipping industry is facing a piquant situation. On one hand, there is a demand for over 23,000 officers to man ships in the next decade while on the other, the alarming increase in instances of piracy is deterring the youths from joining the profession, said Lakshmi Venkatachalam, director-general of shipping (DGS).

Lakhsmi was in the city as part of Merchant Navy Week celebrations. The celebrations culminate into National Maritime Day on April 5, in commemoration of the first Indian vessel SS Loyalty’s maiden voyage in 1919 from Mumbai to London. “Hijacking of vessels by pirates is a big danger for officers on unarmed merchant ships. While naval ships have been sent to protect merchant ships plying in the Gulf of Aden, the United Nations needs to have an understanding with the affected countries to tackle the issue. This will help bolster confidence of Indian seafarers,” said the DGS.

India supplies over 6% of the employment in the world market for seafarers. According to a study on officers’ shortage carried out by the Shipping Federation and the Baltic and International Maritime Council, even a demand of 0.5% per annum would lead to a requirement of 23,000 officers over the next decade. A more realistic 1.5% per annum growth rate would still mean that internationally, the world needs 62,000 officers and 69,000 (seamen) in the next five years.

“This is not counting the job opportunities arising due to early attrition, which is typical to this industry. However, India can increase its share of the global employment market. The setting up of Indian Maritime University is expected to fill in the education and training gap,” said Deepak Kapoor, nautical surveyor-cum-deputy DGS (technical).