AUSTRALIA relies on sea trade for 99% of its exports, with a significant portion of domestic freight also depending on coastal shipping. However, Australia’s national resilience is currently faced with a serious question mark over two glaring realities; our diminished merchant navy, and an ageing maritime workforce. A combination of factors has led the industry to suffer from what is understood at the highest levels as a lack of fresh talent coming through the ranks. The recent Covid era already exposed a certain fragility and apparent over-reliance on foreign shipping and seafarers. Beyond the immediate pressure, the scenario paints an alarming picture of the next decade if nothing is done to address the situation head on.

A recent report commissioned and released this year by offshore energy exploration and production company INPEX investigated the current situation regarding the personnel and skills shortage in Australian maritime, and asserted that market forces alone are now incapable of solving the problem. The report called for coordination across the industry and deployment of Government resources, warning Australia’s maritime workforce could be left “high and dry” by 2035.

OSSA STEPS IN

Offshore & Specialist Ships Australia was formed in 2017 by ex-seafarers aiming to help preserve the history and heritage of Australian specialist ships. With a team comprising of stalwarts of Australian maritime, OSSA has now set its focus on helping to make Australia a centre of maritime services excellence, which in turn supports economic growth. Specifically, one of OSSA’s key goals is to work with youth to develop knowledge and interest in maritime careers.

DCN had the opportunity to speak with four of the men behind OSSA’s work; three of its directors, Ross Brewer, Peter Barrow, and Reginald McNee, and its New South Wales representative, Michael Kelly.

YOU’RE GONNA GO FAR, KID

OSSA’s current project aims to address specifically the shortage of engineers in the current fleet of Australian-flagged vessels through a unique bursary scheme. The motivation behind a bursary specifically for a cadet engineer is not only due to the lack of Australian cadets coming into this rank, but also because an engineering cadetship in this form did not previously exist, with most of the cadetships on offer for deck cadets.

The bursary is set up to essentially pay for the cadet’s onboard sea time, taking care of the cadet’s wage instead of the shipping company. The mutually beneficial nature of the arrangement means that, according to OSSA, there is never a shortage of shipping lines looking for their cadets.

Director Peter Barrow also highlights that an engineering cadetship can make for a rewarding career, once the initial sea and college time is completed.

“There’s so much demand for seafarers, especially young seafarers, that once they do their sea time and then go back to the college, they can then step into a job on a minimum of $150,000 a year, and potentially up to $220,000, so it’s a fabulous career once you’re in it,” Mr Barrow said.

SHOW ME THE WAY

Part of OSSA’s work involves increasing the visibility of shipping and seafaring as a viable career for young people, with the organisation making frequent visits to schools in Victoria, with hopes to one day expand the visits to other states. A host of possible career opportunities in maritime are introduced during OSSA’s tailored schools’ presentation, from pilotage and tugs, seafaring, to ship management and maritime law. But the program, says the directors, is essentially about playing catch up for an absence of more than 20 years of maritime from the shortlist of careers commonly presented to Australian students. For Mr Barrow, the problem has now become cultural.

“Look at countries overseas like the United Kingdom, France, Greece, or in Scandinavia, maritime has been a part of their culture forever, whether through fishing or merchant marine, and even the navy,” Mr Barrow said.

According to Ross Brewer however, the future is bright, but only if the issue of new talent is properly addressed.

“The industry has seen the demise of Australian flag ships over the last 20 years and we don’t have any international trading ships now, but the demand for seafarers is actually greater! We have a whole heap of offshore work going on around Australia, the windfarms are coming up, the tugs are coming up, and the regulators need more people,” Mr Brewer said. 

“There’s a few things that we’d like to see; we need government support, state and federal, into the industry. The maritime industry is not represented in curriculums and careers. We’re trying to overcome that, so that’s where support is needed.”

This article appeared in the October | November edition of DCN Magazine