“At a time when the world is beset by conflict and crisis, it is easy to forget that, day in and day out, the international shipping industry works quietly and efficiently to keep wheels of global trade in motion and ensure timely delivery of goods and commodities….On World Maritime Day, let us recall the often unheralded but always vital contribution by international shipping to peoples and communities all over the world.”
– UN Sec Gen Ban Ki-moon,2015
Today, the ability of nations to provide sustainable maritime transportation sector is key to the development and growth of global economy. We live in a world where global economy would not have functioned effectively without shipping. Accordingly, this writer is in accord with above quote from the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on the importance of international shipping to seaborne trade over the years. Despite global insecurity in all oceans of the world occasioned by piracy, smuggling, illegal arms and human trafficking, coupled with terrorism amongst other heinous crimes that constitute maritime threat to national security, seafarers are still at sea riding the waves to ensure timely delivery of goods and services.
The World Maritime Day 2015 takes place on Thursday, 24 September, 2015 in many countries across the globe. This writer is therefore delighted to salute all seafarers across the globe and their families as the world celebrates this important occasion. The theme of this year’s event is “Maritime education and training”. According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), “The theme was adopted to focus attention on the wider spectrum of maritime education and training. In particular, its adequacy and quality as the bedrock of a safe shipping industry which needs to preserve the quality, practical skills and competence of qualified human resources in order to ensure its sustainability.”
The theme for this year’s World Maritime Day is apt considering the importance of education and training in order to enhance safety of seafarers globally. Education and training are words that may be taken to have the same meaning, but one may argue there is a difference between them in the context of the theme. Training is a process through which seafarers acquire skills, techniques, and knowledge required to operate ships, while education as a concept reflects a broader understanding of how to apply knowledge and skills acquired.
Consequently, seafaring profession requires professional competence acquired through maritime education and training in order to respond to hazards and challenges at sea.
The global economic downturn notwithstanding, demand for shipping will increase over time. This is because nations will be involved in international trade irrespective of their level of development. No single nation in the world is totally dependent on its domestic resources and shipping has always provided a cost-effective platform for transporting commodities over long distance. If the world is to depend on a secure, safe and efficient shipping industry, then capacity building and professionalism must be accorded priority in supplying seafarers to operate these ships.
In this column, a three-part article titled “Maritime safety in Nigeria: A necessity for human development” was published between 28 October and 11 November, 2014. In the second part of the article, it was acknowledged that “With rapid changes in technology and the world becoming increasingly knowledge-based, education has become an important driver of human development. The quality of education is a critical factor for improving the quality of human resources in general and in particular for developing new skills, cultural values and behavioural pattern needed in the marine industry.” It is also conceded by this writer that while “an appreciable level of success is made in maritime education in Nigeria, serious questions still remain regarding the quality. This is because in the past decade, the country has drifted to a situation of low academic standard. The proliferation of maritime institutions has not helped matters as most students are ill-prepared for the marine profession”. This is because shipping is a highly technical professional discipline that requires significant skill, knowledge, ability and expertise. These are attributes that cannot be acquired through on-the-job training and work experience alone. Thus, effective standards of training are the basis of a safe, secure and clean shipping industry.
An educated and healthy workforce is critical to increasing productivity in the maritime sector of the nation’s economy. Although the global economy is not healthy due to economic depression in most parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East which has resulted in migration across the Mediterranean Sea, nonetheless, about 1.5 million seafarers are employed globally for shipping duties. It is predicted that if the global economy improves, and the global fleet increases in size by about 70 percent between the year 2015 and 2030, the current number of officers will increase from 500,000 to 850,000. It is equally forecast by maritime experts that if half of existing officers retire by 2030, global shipping will require 600,000 new officers to be recruited and trained from the year 2015. By implication, an annual requirement of 40,000 officers will be required to operate global shipping.
This poses great challenge to shipping worldwide, thus the maritime industry must make necessary effort to bring in new generations into the seafaring profession. Through mentoring efforts of this writer, it is observed that seafaring is appealing to most of our youths in Nigeria as they perceive it as a rewarding and fulfilling career. But then the nation does not have a fleet of merchant ships that can fire up the interest of the young ones, develop their capacity and enhance professionalism. Insufficient knowledge of the maritime sector and inadequate technical capacity have been adduced as basis for very poor response of investing public into the maritime sector. Industry experts and practitioners are concerned whether those responsible for recruitment, education and training of seafarers have the capacity to meet the demand and high standards required of seafarers.
As all hands across the seas celebrate the 2015 World Maritime Day, it is necessary to state that education and training are required to sustain Nigeria’s maritime industry. Wishing all seafarers “fair wind and following seas”.
MA Johnson
