The Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) is participating in the three-day Seatrade Maritime Crew Connect Global Conference in Manila, Philippines, with a primary objective of securing strategic partnerships to provide sea time experience for its large number of unemployed maritime cadets.

The conference, which gathered ship management companies, crewing agencies, and shipping service providers, is serving as a vital platform for the GMA to address a major challenge of the severe lack of practical experience for graduates facing Ghana’s seafarer industry.

Currently, the Regional Maritime University (RMU) graduates approximately 300 cadets annually, but only about 80 are able to secure the necessary sea time, leaving the majority of trained professionals ashore.

GMA officials are leveraging Ghana’s proximity to Europe, which offers cost-effective flight options, to pitch Ghanaian cadets as a strategically valuable and more affordable crewing source to international agencies.

Their attendance aims to give Ghana’s seafarers a competitive advantage in the global market.

Critical Issues

The global conference has been a central hub for discussing critical issues impacting the crewing industry, including seafarer welfare, recruitment, safety, training, and professional development. Discussions also focused on major industry trends like digitalization and decarbonization and their influence on seafarers.

Speakers at the day one of the conference highlighted the Philippines, a global leader in seafaring, aggressive implementation of policies to future-proof its maritime workforce and secure the sector’s significant contribution to its economy.

ICS

The Secretary General of the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Thomas Kazakos who delivered the keynote address, emphasized the resilience of seafarers and the necessity of placing them at the forefront of industry decisions.

Mr Kazakos highlighted the scale of the profession, noting that around two million seafarers operate over 74,000 vessels, transporting approximately 90 percent of world trade.

He underscored the critical role of seafarers, stating unequivocally that “without a workforce, there can be no shipping.”

Mr Kazakos emphasized that because seafarers are the “driving force” behind the global industry, the people involved “must be at the forefront” of all decision-making.

Mr Kazakos called for a concerted effort among all stakeholders to secure the future of the maritime profession, stressing that “employers, unions, and governments have a collective effort to make to train and ensure career options are in line with talent retention.”

Maintaining flexibility in the industry’s approach, he also stressed is also essential to meeting the evolving needs of the global workforce.

Geopolitical Tensions

Discussants on the topic Geopolitical disruption outlook on shipping and impact on crewing saw the panel raising concerns about the criminalisation of seafarers, where crew members are sometimes detained, often with a complete lack of knowledge when illicit cargo, such as drugs, is discovered in containers.

This the industry leaders affirmed that the “safety of crew must be at the centre” of agents, ship managers, and crew managers, calling for the deployment of available expertise and greater engagement with owners and charterers to fix these systemic issues.

The Director of Employment Affairs at the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), Helio Vicente, addressed the risks posed by geopolitical instability and non-uniform international policies, pointing out that sanctions need to be applied from a global perspective.

“When unilateral measures are implemented, it tends to fragment the sector, leaving seafarers vulnerable, particularly those serving under dangerous conditions in the “shadow fleet” where protection is often non-existent”, Mr Vicente said.

Addressing the industry’s massive changes by way of decarbonization and energy transition,  discussants such as Martin Eriksen of the Maearsk Mc-Kinney Moller Centre for Zero Carbon, Catherine Logie of OneOcean, Simon Grainge all stressed the need for the Task Force’s to help guide social dialogue collaborative effort between governments, unions, and employers so that countries wishing to initiate a social dialogue in the maritime sector has a ready-made report and framework to guide them.