Bright work prospects in changing maritime sector

TECHNOLOGICAL advances and digitalisation are changing the face of the maritime industry.

Rather than these advances posing a threat to South African jobs, it opens up a myriad of opportunities, especially among the youth.

The advances were discussed at a two-day international maritime conference at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, which ended yesterday.

Organised by Port Elizabeth’s SA International Maritime Institute (SAIMI), the conference had special relevance to the Eastern Cape.

The province boasts three commercial ports, where industries such as fishing, boat building and oil-rig repair are growing and creating jobs.

Speaking from the Maritime Education and Training in the Digital Era conference, SAIMI spokesman Sam Venter said she believed the Eastern Cape would benefit immensely from the issues discussed, especially as the province’s oceans economy was showing growth potential in a number of areas.

“There’s a host of exciting maritime industry opportunities opening up in the region.

“Significantly, the Nelson Mandela University (NMU) has recently launched an Ocean Sciences Campus – a first in the country,” Venter said.

“NMU is also developing new maritime study programmes, with a host of industry-related growth throughout the province.

“All of these will reap the benefits of proposals which emerged from the conference,” she said.

Graham Dreyden, representing South Africa’s largest employer of seafarers, African Marine Solutions (Amsol), said: “We don’t need fewer people on board ships – we need smarter people.”

Dreyden said the younger generation would find it easier to adjust and offer value in multiple roles in the shipping industry.

In total, 35% of Amsol’s 550 employees were classified as youth, he said.

“Our challenge is how to prepare them for entering the industry. Big data and analytics will impact the whole shipping value chain and the seafarers’ capacity to manage data and make complex decisions.”

In another boost for the industry, a major private-sector partner – Norway’s Klaveness Shipping Management – has identified South Africa as its new source of nextgeneration sea staff, after Romania and the Philippines, with the latter supplying 400 000 sailors to the global fleet.

Klaveness crewing head Torbjorn Eide said the company had a long-term perspective of investment in South African maritime education and training, with engagement planned for the next five to 10 years.

Klaveness had signed a skills-development agreement with the SA Maritime Training Academy, in partnership with SAIMI, with big investment in South Africa’s cadetship programme.

“We see tremendous opportunities,” Eide said, but warned that the retention rate of 54% of trainees could force Klaveness to soon re-evaluate its position in terms of skills development.

“The quality of candidate is not the problem,” Eide said. “We need to identify the right quality of people for the industry – and may need to address that more proactively in the future.

“To put it in perspective, there is a surplus of 15 000 officers in the Philippines – that is what South Africa is competing against,” he said.

‘ We need to identify the right quality of people for the industry