[EN-SEA] "Nautilus" Launches Scatching Attack on UK Shipping Policy

By : Julian Macqueen

LEADING seafarers’ union Nautilus International has launched a scathing attack on the British government’s shipping policy, claiming that proposals to boost UK seafarers’ employment prospects have been forgotten.

“UK Shipping policy is unravelling before our eyes,” said Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson.

His comments came as Danish shipowner AP Moller-Maersk this week said it would remove 15 ships and a total of 113 jobs from the UK registry “under a global efficiency drive”.

In a statement, the company said that “these changes will not have any effect on the employment of UK seafarers”. Mr Dickinson’s ire was firmly directed at the UK government.

“We warned the government that something like this could happen,” Mr Dickinson told Lloyd’s List.

Looking at the wider picture, Mr Dickinson took little comfort from the current developments on the British shipping scene. Noting the crucial role played by Maersk in the size of its UK-flagged fleet and as a provider of cadet training places, he said that the omens were not good.

“Maersk is such a critical player. With 15 ships leaving the flag and with 113 jobs to go, it is difficult to interpret the moves in anything other than a negative light.”

The union estimated that the government would need to invest £9m ($14.7mm) in supporting cadets as they move from getting their first certificate at the end of their training to acquiring their second, which needs a further 12-18 month in employment and training.

“With that second certificate, the new entrants to the industry become eminently more marketable,” he said.

The UK Chamber of Shipping expressed a similar sentiment.

The moves by Maersk brought a “sharp emphasis to the need for the training proposals on the table to receive a speedy and positive response”, a chamber spokesman said.

He offered a comparable view of the difficulties faced by new recruits to the shipping industry. “The fact is, at the junior stage, UK officers are not competitive,” he said, adding that ongoing funding “would help”.

The chamber took a step back from making the direct link between the decision by Maersk to move ships out of the UK flag and the existence of enhanced financial support for cadets.

“It is difficult to say whether or not, had the funding been in place, Maersk might have taken a different view,” said the spokesman.

Conservative shadow shipping spokesman Julian Brazier highlighted recent government foul-ups on port ratings and light dues.

However, pushed as to whether he would be in a position – as part of an incoming administration – to support seafarer training, he said that in light of the current economic situation, he was unable to make any commitments on public spending.

He pointed out that the four main merchant navy training colleges have funds which, although generated by themselves, were subject to the same restrictions that applied to all further education colleges on spending public money.

He indicated that this was something that he could look at. “We can do small things as long as they don’t involve public money,” he said.

Source : Lloyd's List, 20.10.09.