#3 - 2005年12月31日
December 31, 2005
明天是 2006 年的元旦，新的一年将带给 “新航海人” 就业的新希望和机会。
从 V.Ships （世界最大的船务管理公司） 3/4/2005 于上海举办之论坛，BIMCO/ISF 於12/2/2005 的Update, ILO 之报导和 Lloyd’s List 15/12/ 2005的新闻都指出世界船员的缺乏和我国将成为最大的船员供应国。
1. V.Ships 3/4/2005之 Shipping China 2005上海论坛中清楚的指出我们的优点和缺点：
Perception of Chinese seafarers
The reason for the low number of seafarers serving on board foreign vessels may be due to the reluctance on the part of many ship owners to try a new (to them) unknown nationality of seafarers. The concern often expressed is “How will they perform?” and so on.
English language
A common complaint is the inability of Chinese seafarers to speak English fluently. Because of the limited opportunities to speak English in China it becomes a challenge to retain what has been taught. Foreign operators therefore have some difficulty communicating with the vessel unless they have also employed a Chinese superintendent. Having said this, the younger generation appears to cope better and there are some officers actually quite fluent in spoken and written English. Things can only get better.
Competent and Trained seafarers
China presents itself as an exciting source of seafarers. It has a very good marine education system that produces competent and trained seafarers. There are the well-known Dalian Maritime University, Shanghai Maritime University, Wuhan University of Technology and Jimei Navigation Institute to name a few. The cadets produced by the institutions are of a very high standard and are put through stringent tests to justify the investment being made on them.
Reappraisal of the system of licensing
The system of licensing in its current form allows only selected Chinese companies to process the departure of seafarers. With foreign ship owners expressing interest in the potential China has to offer in its seafaring manpower, perhaps the time has come to reappraise the present system. This would enable foreign companies achieve that much desired retention/rotation capability and would encourage more and more ship owners to look to China for their manpower needs. It is recognized that changes cannot occur overnight but if a change of strategy were to be signaled with a possible time table for accomplishing this, then one of the major concerns will have been addressed.
Conclusion
China is too big and too powerful to ignore within the world economy and the international shipping industry. The country will have an increasing role to play within many sectors of the shipping industry including the supply of crew.
2. Baltic International Maritime Council (BIMCO)和International Shipping Federation (ISF) 合办之Manpower 2005 Update was published on 2nd of December 2005.
Key issues arising from the report include:
a. Worldwide supply of seafarers is estimated at 466,000 officers and 721,000 ratings.
b. Worldwide demand is estimated at 476,000 officers and 586,000 ratings.
c. The Update thus reveals a continuing shortage of qualified officers of around 10,000 or 2% of the total workforce, and a significant surplus of ratings.
d. The continuing supply shift from OECD countries (Western Europe, North America, Japan etc) to the Far East, South-East Asia, and Eastern Europe.
e. An increasing overall demands for seafarers, with particular pressure on certain grades and ship types.
f. Aging OECD senior officers and a lack of replacements from elsewhere.
g. The need to increase training and recruitment and to reduce wastage.
Key conclusions
The OECD countries remain an important source of officers, although Eastern Europe has become increasingly significant with a large increase in officer numbers. The Far East and South-East Asia and Indian are rapidly becoming a key source of officers.
3. Lloyd’s List 15/12/2005- London Ship Managers Ltd (LSM) 在马尼垃举行的船员招聘会上承认我国于不久的将来将取代菲律宾成为世界最大的船员供应国。
4. International Labor Organization (ILO) 在一份报告中指出：
a. 菲律宾2004 年已流失8,300个船员工作给其他亚洲国家（包括14 % 给中国）。
b. 报告中也提到船员的英文程度需要加强，原文如下- Effective communication on board is paramount to ensure safety of the vessels and the seafarers on it. Since the language of international seafaring is English, fluent in this language is seen as of extreme importance. In countries such as India and the Philippines such skills are well developed.
China, on the other hand, recognizes deficiencies in this area and is taking strong measures to improve such ability. It requires universities to conduct both specialist English courses and to conduct 20 per cent of other courses in English. They recognize that students have the skills of reading but lack proficiency in oral and aural communication.
上面由世界四大单位所提出的要点真是一针见血，如我们有意增加外派的船上工作，对前面所提的各点应多加注意。
柳 辉
2006年元旦于西雅图
附注： 为保持文章的本意有些字句是用原文（英文）表达。请谅。