Call for shipowners to provide more cadet berths

A failure to provide cadet berths for shipping’s future workforce was highlighted at Seatrade Maritime Crew Connect Global.

“Shipowners really need to step up and see the importance of cadets. And I know all the big companies, they have a cadet program in place, but that's not sufficient for the whole industry,” Capt Yves Vandenborn, Head of Loss Prevention Asia – Pacific for North Standard, said during a panel the industry’s image.

“We need to make sure cadets are actually find a ship. How are they going to get their sea time? How are they going to get their tickets? If they can't find a ship as a cadet.”

Tommy Olofsen, COO and President of OSM Thome, who is also chairing the conference, made the point that he did think ships were built with enough cadet berths on board.

Capt Vandenborn noted some companies just view cadets as a cost as they do not have their full certificates so cannot do the likes of watchkeeping. However, he urged them to look at the bigger picture. “A lot of companies are forgetting that you need cadets in order to get your future seafarers. I think that is something where we need to try and push companies more to see that the importance of getting cadets on board.”

Once cadets are on board they should also receive the training and experience they are there for and not just be viewed as cheap labour to chipping and painting.

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Olofsen also reiterated a longstanding issue in the Philippines over the standards of training schools that churn out around 40,000 graduates a year but only around 5,000 ever actually sail on a ship.

“The schools are simply not good enough. It's part of the problem and the other part is that the government in Philippines allows this to happen  and it's a real issue and we need to stand together,” he stated.

The Philippines government is attempting to improve standards of training schools through the recently signed into law Magna Carta of the Filipino Seafarers. However its understood provisions related to training institutes were watered down in a process that saw President Ferdinand Marcos Jr delay the signing of the act into law from February until September this year.