Discuss the ways both strategic and tactical in building a resilient seafaring community as to align with sustainable crewing in shipping (building the seafaring workforce and talent acquisition)

Abstract

The seafaring workforce has been facing a shortage throughout the years and pass research have discussed about the demand and supply of seafarers. However, insufficient studies have been conducted on the more recent expectations of seafarers as most research are based several years ago. Recently, the COVID-19 pandemic also caused new issues to arise for seafarers, including the crew change crisis, which has affected the resilience and confidence in the seafaring community greatly. Hence, this research paper aims to investigate the strategic and tactical ways to build a resilient seafaring community so as to create sustainable crewing in shipping. Specifically, this report focuses on building the seafaring workforce through the acquisition and retention of seafaring officers. Research was first conducted to provide insights from existing literature to understand the main issues faced in the seafaring workforce and the strategies available. Quantitative and qualitative research on the current seafaring situation is then carried out and evaluated, by comparing it with previous research to find out what improvements can be made. Respondents were sourced from maritime educational institutes, shipping companies, seafaring unions, and the seafarers themselves as these industry professionals are well qualified to provide relevant responses for this research. Topics discussed in this paper include identifying the areas lacking in current recruitment strategies and factors affecting the retention of seafaring officers. Recommendations are then made to increase the awareness and attractiveness of the seafaring industry and suggest ways to improve the retention of officers.