Govt. to fill seafarer dearth

200,000 employment opportunities in seafaring

Source: Daily Mirror
By Ravindu Peiris

The government yesterday said that they will be getting actively engaged in filling the gap of seafarers required globally.

Labour and Man Power Ministry Secretary Mahinda Madihahewa stated that the government encourages seafaring as it is also in line with the Mahinda Chinthana which is committed to training seafarers in six institutes.

He pointed out that since there is a dearth of seafarers in the world countries like Sri Lanka would be able to fill this gap.

It was pointed out that there are approximately 200,000 employment opportunities which will be vacant within the next 2 years, National Union of Seafarers General Secretary Palitha Athukorala said.

Addressing the Seminar on the International Labour Organization (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) revealed that according to an International Transport Workers’ Study 12,000 large vessels are under construction in South Korea and China which will be functioning by 2009 and 2010.

“If 20 seafarers are occupied in each of these ships that will accumulate to around 200,000 and anyway they will be looking for seafarers from small developing countries like Sri Lanka and Maldives,” he explained. Athukorala added that Sri Lanka should get ready to get a reasonable slice of this massive employment opportunity.

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Furthermore depicting the importance of seafarers he claimed that in terms of foreign exchange that about 5-6 domestic workers in the Middle East are equal to one seafarer.

Speaking about the MLC he conveyed that it sets out the principles and working conditions for Decent Work.

He moreover said that it helps the seafarers to overcome objections in obtaining visas in countries like the US and UK and also finding ships for employment.

The MLC is a new international labour convention that was adopted by the International Labour Conference under Article 19 of its constitution at the 10th Maritime Session in 2006 which is applicable to all ships engaged in commercial activities with the exception of fishing and traditional vessels. It sets out seafarers’ rights to decent conditions of work and helps to create conditions of fair competition for ship owners. Once in force it will be the fourth pillar of the international regulatory regime for quality shipping, complementing the key conventions of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). ILO Geneva International Labour Standards Department Director Cleopatra Doumbia Henry said that a Maritime Labour Certificate and a Declaration of Maritime Labour Compliance issued by a flag state or a recognized organization is required to prove the compliance of the company. She noted that although both Maldives and Sri Lanka are maritime states located strategically in the sea routes they are not yet important in the seafarer workforce but that the ILO knows that Sri Lanka has the potential to become the leader of the region in the sector.

ILO Colombo Director Tina Staermose commented that Sri Lanka would be one of the first nations in South Asia if it decides to ratify the convention were there to be an agreement between the government and the social partners to that effect. She pointed out that trade unions, employers and the government each have their own issues, views and opinions and therefore we must embrace these differences in a constructive manner and positive spirit and introduce better responses to the Decent Work challenges.