MARITIME Industry Australia Limited has again raised the alarm on what it considers a maritime skills crisis, with labour shortages now affecting defence capabilities and the national economy.
Speaking at MIAL’s Sydney Networking event on Tuesday (26 February) CEO Angela Gillham called for reform in the maritime training space and government funding to push cadets, engineers, deck officers and integrated ratings through the training regime.
She said there are “significant issues” around whether Australia will be able to develop its offshore wind resources without the necessary training, and that the offshore oil and gas sector is also “crying out” for more maritime skills.
Ms Gillham said “crisis” is not a word she uses lightly.
“We’ve got a systemic deficit of engineers and deck officers, and that doesn’t just affect the on-water fleet. As many of you here will know, that affects whole areas of the economy,” she said.
“Ports, terminals, the resources industry, the uses of those skills are far and wide and well and truly beyond blue water application.
“Last year we had a critical shortage of integrated ratings … We had members that were really struggling to get their crew compliments to get their ships away. This is a real problem.”
Ms Gillham said skills are developed at sea; they take a long time, particularly in deck and engine, but they are utilised across the economy.
“We’ve got a deteriorating geopolitical environment … We have vulnerable international supply chains,” she said.
“We are a big island at the end of the global supply chain. We’re heavily reliant on shipping for nearly all of our liquid fuel imports.
“It’s pretty scary to think what would happen to our economy if those supply lines no longer operated.”
Ms Gillham said MIAL’s vision is for a prosperous Australia with a strong sovereign maritime capability. Part of that vision is the development of a strategic fleet of Australian flagged and crewed ships.
“We’ve had this same vision for many years now, and the subtext to that is there is no prosperity without security and our maritime industry plays a really important role in ensuring our national security and resilience,” she said.
Ms Gillham believes the solution is strong government action.
“We need brave government action to support our shipping industry and provide the equivalent, at least equivalent policy settings to other really strong maritime nations,” she said.
“This is about improving the tax incentives to match foreign operators. We already have a framework in place; we need to improve it so that it’s equal, if not better, to our competitive flags.”
MIAL’s Sydney Networking Event, sponsored by Colin Biggers & Paisley, was the first of four such events to be held across the country.
