Shipowners in India allowed to hire foreigners

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Jul 2008

The Indian government has given the country's shipowners the green light to hire foreign nationals to ease an acute shortage of qualified seafarers. The industry has been seeking approval for five years. And now the Directorate-General of Shipping (DG-S) has approved 12 source countries - Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Latvia, Lithuania, Italy, Malaysia, Romania, Russia, the United Kingdom and Ukraine. But DG-S chief Kiran Dhingra said: 'Permission will not be blanket - there will be conditions. It will be given on a case-by-case basis and there will be a maximum of two foreign officers on board a vessel.'
The Indian National Ship owners Association (Insa) estimates the sector is short of about 1,000 officers. And with huge capital expenditure on new ships in the pipeline, the shortage will grow.
Insa has suggested nine more source countries for seafarers: Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.
Spokesman M S Kulkarni said the government's move is 'a welcome measure, but restrictive due to the cap on employment and requirement for masters to be Indian nationals'.
Insa has suggested the foreign nationals be allowed to be third or second officers, the equivalent in engineering ranks, or additional senior officers.
It has also asked DG-S to allow Indian nationals with 'certificates of competence' from other countries, such as Singapore and Hong Kong, to work on Indian vessels.
Given a worldwide shortage of seafarers, foreign shipping companies are increasingly hiring Indian officers, which has eaten into domestic supply. The officers are sought after because of their strong safety record, documentation skills and proficiency in English.
Reports suggest there are 26,900 Indian officers - but that only 8,900 are employed on Indian ships. The other 18,000 work on foreign flag vessels for tax reasons.
Due to increased demand and short supply, officer salaries have doubled to US$6,000-US$7,000 a month.
Babu Joseph, executive director of Euro Tech Maritime Academy, says India needs a central maritime university to help bring in uniform training and standards.
India has seven recognised maritime academies, but the number of officer candidates they can produce is limited.
Permission to hire foreign nationals is seen as a stop-gap measure. In the long run, seafaring has to be made an attractive career option for young Indians, who today are lured by richer pickings in the corporate world.
Big cuts to maritime course fees, improving the environment on board ships and changing tax policies are regular suggestions to help attract new blood.

Source: Business Times