International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 3

Number 2

June 2009

233

1 INTRODUCTION

When judged with respect to available economic re-

sources and opportunities, it will be justifiable to call

our planet ocean in place of earth. Access to sea and

having a coastal zone enriches a nation to such an

extent which is beyond the grasp of so many littoral

nations. We have to literally educate our masses and

policy makers to have the right direction in their fu-

ture planning and nation building and attract invest-

ment in the maritime sector.

Education and awareness is the first step towards

the effective and efficient utilization of any oppor-

tunity you may have within your reach. Same is the

case with maritime sector and industry. Our mari-

time cluster, to much extent, is handicapped with re-

spect to the educational needs and their fulfillment.

We have remained dependent for too long on seafar-

ers’ practical knowledge and expertise for employ-

ment in shore sector. Like other areas, we need to

come up with institutions of higher education for

maritime industry. Whether it is port sector or ship-

ping industry, coastal zone development or envi-

ronment protection, what we need is to have means

to educate our people for all tiers and types of organ-

izations in maritime domain.

Purpose of this paper is to discuss, and critically

analyze how important it is for a country with mari-

time potentials and opportunities to promote mari-

time education for the development of national

economy; what are the various factors and limita-

tions that hamper the promotion of maritime educa-

tion vis a vis the other faculties; and finally, what

should be the modus operand for giving impetus to

existing efforts for much desired promotion of mari-

time education.

2 BACKGROUND

Pakistan is a large and diverse country having all

types of topography with jurisdiction over large Ex-

clusive Economic Zone (EEZ), proudly called the

fifth and the largest province of the country. The

economic activities that relate to this fifth province

are numerous in existence and much more in pipe-

line. The country’s economy is dependent upon sea

transport for its key exports - raw materials and agri-

cultural commodities - and imports, mostly manu-

factured goods. Almost whole of the Pakistan’s trade

in goods is carried by ships. Coastal shipping is also

going to rise in importance with the planned devel-

opment of the Gwadar Port and Coastal Belt of the

country.

The marine space also provides a wealth of re-

sources: minerals such as oil and gas, living marine

resources and tourism/recreational resources. It is

increasingly recognized that the development and

use of marine resources needs to be undertaken in an

ecologically sustainable manner to ensure that they

remain available for future generations. It is also

critical for the industries that operate in the marine

environment to do so in a way that minimizes their

impact upon it.

Oceans and coasts are also important in cultural

and social context. Pakistan has a rich maritime his-

tory and heritage. Largest city of the country, name-

ly Karachi, is on the coastline housing largest port

Maritime Education – Putting in the Right

Emphasis

A. Ali

Bahria University, Karachi, Pakistan.

ABSTRACT: Education is the first step towards the effective and efficient utilization of the available re-

sources. Same is the case with maritime sector and industry. Our maritime cluster is handicapped with respect

to the educational needs and their fulfillment. We need to come up with institutions of world ranking for

maritime education. Whether it is port sector or shipping industry, coastal zone development or environment

protection, what we need is to have means to educate our people for all tiers and types of organizations in

maritime domain.

234

structure, shipping activities and related industrial

complex. A large portion of our population live be-

side or close to the sea or travel to the seaside to re-

lax, and percentage of such people is going to rise in

near future with new port structure and coastal de-

velopment in the plans.

The industries that operate in, or are dependent

upon, the marine environment are critical to the

well-being of coastal or maritime communities. The-

se industries also make a significant contribution to

our national prosperity and growth.

3 CAPACITY BUILDING

Success of the maritime sector is totally dependent

on a skilled, highly qualified and motivated human

resource at all levels. There is an acute shortage of

trained and qualified workforce and managers for

maritime sector and industry with reliance on

sources of expertise from other industries.

3.1 Maritime Cluster

First of all we need to identify what we mean by the

Maritime Sector (Cluster). Various sectors of the

maritime industry, which collectively form what is

known in some countries as the Maritime Cluster,

are probably the most diverse and varied within in-

dustrial sectors. These include but are not limited to

port authorities, stevedore companies, labour suppli-

ers, maritime insurance, maritime administrations,

shipping companies, classification societies, ship-

building, maritime legal consultancies, maritime se-

curity agencies and coast guard officials.

Most of these sectors benefited in the past from

an inflow of well educated, disciplined practitioners,

namely seafarers, who after serving at sea for a

number of years, would come and take shore-based

positions.

3.2 Expansions and Needs

Use of oceans has expanded much ahead of shipping

and new areas of study have evolved like environ-

ment, sea-bed resources, fisheries, marine biology,

coastal zone management etc. Associated profes-

sions like port management, shipping management

and international law require dedicated experts and

scholars. New world order demands new emphasis

on issues like marine security, terrorism, piracy and

maritime fraud to ensure world peace in 21

century.

In Europe, research studies funded by the EC in-

dicated that in addition to technical subjects that

employers identified as essential for their sector,

they also identified a number of core skills that they

regarded as important for their staff to be employed

in shore based industry. These included organiza-

tional / analytical skills; customer awareness; com-

munication and interpersonal skills; environmental

awareness; safety and security; leadership and

teamwork; and advanced IT and e-commerce.

It is widely recognized that most of the sea-going

officers leave the sea at a certain point in their lives

to take up employment ashore in a marine related

job. This is the time when they need certain type of

education and training so that building upon their

sea experience, they can make themselves suitably

qualified for the shore based maritime industry.

Shore based maritime sector benefited from the

experience and expertise of the ex-seafarers em-

ployed in various capacities. Employers in some of

these maritime sectors feel that their future is threat-

ened by a skill shortage. Concern about the number

of available former officers suitably qualified have

sparked a series of research projects which have

culminated into multiple governmental actions and

industrial led initiatives aimed at buoying up the

number of seafarers working in the industry.

3.3 Problem in Hand

Measures to support the skills base have been inex-

tricably linked to research into the state of the labour

market for marine skills. This market is chiefly

composed of former deck and engineering officers,

predominantly from the merchant marine.

3.3.1 British Experience

Shortage of experienced and suitably qualified of-

ficers can be seen as starting with the first empirical

research into the problem by Moreby and Springett’s

(1990) “Critical Levels” study. Close to follow was

the work carried out at the University of Warwick,

on behalf of, among others the ISF and BIMCO.

The British Chamber of Shipping Report, “Brit-

ain’s Maritime Skills” made some projected esti-

mates for the future of the numbers of officers, both

ashore and at sea. This has been recently updated by

a report “United Kingdom Seafarers Analysis 2006”

conducted for the Department of Transport, which

has alarming indications for availability of maritime

skill base in the future.

In UK, the Report of Proceedings of the Commit-

tee investigating “The future of maritime skills and

employment in the UK”, and “British Shipping:

Challenges and Opportunities” contain evidence in-

dicating the decline trends in maritime sector and the

implications of such developments. The Employ-

ment Committee Report (1993) contains submis-

sions from people in the industry voicing their fears

concerning the shortage of people to work in the UK

shore-side industries. In particular, evidence can be

seen being submitted by various shipping industry

235

related organizations and bodies to a government

committee insisting that it is essential that certain

key jobs in the shore based maritime industry are

carried out by former seafarers for various reasons,

and they need to be suitably qualified to undertake

these jobs.

3.3.2 Australian Experience

Numerous studies over the past decade have been

conducted indicating a similar pattern in Australia to

that of the United Kingdom. Two publications can

be referred; firstly the report by Capt Denis Parson,

“Maintaining Manpower and skills requirements for

Australian Ports” and second is a document report-

ing the Senate enquiry into “Workforce challenges

in the transport industry”.

The first report has examined the skill shortages

and their causes. Report indicates skill areas which

will make seafarers more transferable to maritime

shore based sectors and that included logistics and

supply chain management; Information Technolo-

gies (IT), and E-business skills; organizational, HR,

and management skills; port and terminal manage-

ment skills; maritime policy and strategic develop-

ment skills; marketing, commercial, contract and

negotiation skills; and finally health, safety and en-

vironmental management skills.

Of interest here are extract from various submis-

sions to the Senate enquiry on “Workforce challeng-

es in the transport industry” as follows:

Australian Ship-owners Association (ASA) sub-

mitted that it is clear that the maritime industry faces

a number of challenges and issues with regard to

employment and training. These included lack of

awareness and industry profile with existing initia-

tives having a negligible impact in the maritime in-

dustry. ASA also said that while the industry is tak-

ing pro-active steps to address the skills shortage,

opportunities do exist for other stakeholders, includ-

ing Governments, to take a more active role.

Australian Maritime College (AMC) submitted

that future of Australian economy, national security,

and defence is dependent on well trained and high

quality maritime human resource, to support both

the “sea going” and “shore-based” maritime indus-

tries. Based on this, AMC recommended in her

submission that the Australian government needs to

consider offering additional fee support or fee waiv-

ers to encourage young Australians to undertake

Maritime Education and Training (MET); and de-

velop well focused initiatives to maximize training

within the maritime industries.

Maritime Unions of Australia (MUA) submitted

that Australia’s maritime industries are continuing to

expand in response to growing container trade par-

ticularly imports; growth in the export of bulk com-

modities; and growth in offshore oil and gas explo-

ration, construction, production and transportation.

Remedial Measures

The twelfth report of the Environment, Transport

and Regional Affairs Committee, “The future of the

UK shipping industry” published a summary of the

committee’s findings and was also based upon “Brit-

ish Shipping: Charting a New Course”. The commit-

tee agreed among other things to establish the im-

portance of shore-based shipping services in UK.

After considering the submissions made by various

bodies, the committee found that a successful ship-

ping industry would bring many benefits to the UK

in terms of income and employment, as well as for

strategic and political reasons. They concluded

therefore that there is a strong case for supporting

the industry.

The strategy adopted in UK was two pronged: a

marketing strategy aimed at increasing awareness of

maritime careers and to make information more

readily available; secondly to widen access to train-

ing opportunities and increase the value of officer’s

qualifications to increase their suitability for absorp-

tion in shore based industry.

Better career marketing approach has crystallized

into marketing campaigns aimed at promoting ship-

ping to the public as well as to decision makers. The

Chamber of Shipping, seamen’s unions and some

other similar organizations have promoted a number

of initiatives to increase the profile of shipping in the

UK. One such initiative is the “Fighting Sea Blind-

ness” campaign, which aims to help promote co-

ordination of various groups’ efforts in relation to

maritime issues and employment.

More specific measures included the production

of careers videos, posters and information packs for

distribution at schools and co-ordination of several

web sites, which feature information and links con-

cerning maritime careers and maritime industry.

This also included planned attendance of the MNTB

at career exhibitions and fairs. These events have al-

so been supported by maritime training colleges.

Project Sea Vision was launched in January 2003,

promoted by the UK Chamber of Shipping. This

initiative aims to raise first of all awareness of the

maritime sector in UK, and its importance in the

country’s economy; and secondly to generate inter-

est in a range of marine careers. Sea Vision does not

specifically relate to shipping and shipping related

industries. It encompasses other marine sectors such

as ship and boat building, marine leisure, defence,

fishing, environment, commerce and so on. The ini-

tiative draws together regional and specific centers

of expertise in promotion and education. These aim

to generate and disseminate career materials to rele-

236

vant targeted areas, and to provide a public relation

vehicle by attending specific public events.

As part of a number of measures taken by the UK

Government to support an increase in cadet num-

bers, it has supported the creation of the Maritime

Training Trust by the industry. The trust provides a

central point for the receipt and administration of the

industry’s financial contributions towards supporting

further seafarer training. The concept of the trust

was that companies could voluntarily contribute to

the costs of training seafarers through donating

money to a pool, rather than making any direct train-

ing investment themselves. This scheme was also

aimed at shore-based maritime companies who em-

ploy former ships’ officers.

4 DISCUSSIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

Maritime sector has its own set of problems and in-

dustry should be aware of skill shortages in the sec-

tor and the need for capacity building. These issues

have been raised and discussed at different forums;

however, there is a lack of a coherent policy, and

work program to address these issues.

There are a number of groups and networks ac-

tively working on addressing these issues. These ac-

tivities however, are not coordinated and in isolation

from each other, at times creating confusion and du-

plication of efforts. Perhaps the best way forward

would be either a “network of networks” or recogni-

tion of one of the groups as the leader.

The turning point for the United Kingdom was

the realization of the situation by the UK govern-

ment, which followed be a raft policies and actions

involving the whole of industry, government and

other stakeholders. That is what needs to happen at

other places also to put the things at right track in

maritime industry.

Pakistan needs to learn from the experiences of

other countries like United Kingdom and Australia

and has to realize the importance of new emerging

study areas linked with maritime industry. We need

to educate our young generation in professions like

environment, insurance, law, security and financial

management linked with maritime sector. Only

through these measures, we will be able to maintain

our pace of progress and expand our operations in

maritime industry.

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