Demand and Supply of Seafarers

Rising cost of ship/port operations, low freight and the 9/11 attacks in USA, have caused to employment of Bangladeshi sailors to drop. Visa restrictions set by USA and Singapore have also caused loss of employment of Bangladeshi seafarers. The Bangladeshi government is trying to resolve the matter with the respective governments but the progress is slow.

As of  2003, 1270 Bangladeshi seafarers are employed in domestic and foreign flagships. Only 35% of the total registered seafarer are hired while the unemployed seafarer has to wait on average 3 years for a job opportunity.  Also 60 to 70% of employed seafarers are dependant upon foreign vessels. This resulted due to over supply of seafarer. The diminishing size of the national  and international fleet, reduced manning of ships due to technological advances and the overall quality of seafarers have caused this oversupply. Another cause is the unwillingness of shipping companies to take up fresh trainees. Also a flood of new seafarers from ex-socialist countries is contributing to this problem.

Bangladeshi government is taking a number of steps to solve the problem of oversupply of the seafarer.

• The government is sending a high level delegation to negotiate with seafarer employing countries/shipping companies to find new job opportunities

• Proper training will be required for the seafarers in accordance with international standards, and in a accordance with STCW 78/95 convention, so that the Bangladeshi seafarer can perform their duties to the satisfaction of the ships owners and maritime administrations.

• Strict judicial anti-desertion policies are being implemented

• The Bangladeshi government is trying to loosen work visa restrictions implemented by other countries.

• English language is being emphasized in all of maritime institutes

• Refresher courses for the serving seafarer implemented every 3 years as per STCW’95 convention

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Strength of the Bangladeshi Seafarer

Being a historically maritime nation, Bangladesh regards seafaring as a respectable career.  Locally trained seafarers have a high standard of proficiency, hard working well behaved, obedient, trustworthy and have a good reputation. All undergoing trainees are required to have a secondary school certificate (SSC). They have a good understanding of the English language, and are happy with more reasonable wages then the seafarers from developed countries.

Problems in the industry and possible solutions

Factors such poor freight market, high operation cost, unreasonable detention of vessels, surveyor and fund constrains have negatively influenced the national fleets strength. In 1983 there were 35 ships under national colors, however that number dropped to 25 ships in 2003.  The considerable reduction of national fleet, has reduced employment opportunities on national flagships. Also the unwillingness of the foreign vessels to take on inexperienced crew has diminished employment. Bangladesh possesses no training vessels nor enough ships to employ all of the inexperienced seafarers.  Visa restrictions imposed by USA and Singapore have cause great employment constraints as well.

Some desertion of Bangladeshi seafarer from foreign flag vessels have also hindered the employment opportunities. The Bangladeshi government have imposed strict rules as to discourage desertion. However this requires the cooperation of foreign immigration agencies, who will identify the deserters and send them back to their home country to face charges.

Future Plans

Recent world events have made it impossible to make any sort of a prediction about maritime manpower especially in a developing country like Bangladesh. However the government plans to continuously improve its maritime training institutions and produce about 60 cadet officers and 150-200 seafarers annually to meet ship-manning demand on both national and international levels. The government is also promoting the quality of its training facilities and seafarers.