UK minister questioned on maritime training targets

Shipping minister Stephen Hammond faced questions from MPs yesterday on how the UK government plans to combat the country’s forecast seafaring skills shortage.
He spent more than an hour before the House of Commons transport committee as it staged the first in a series of oral evidence hearings as part of a long-awaited inquiry into UK maritime strategy.
Committee chairwoman Louise Ellman told the minister that an independent review of UK seafarer training had warned of a likely shortage of 3,500 British deck and engineer officers by 2022 and asked how he intends to close this skills gap.
Mr Hammond told the hearing that he was determined to ensure that the UK remains a global centre for shipping and has just approved an additional £3m a year for the Support for Maritime Training scheme as part of this objective.
He described the government’s support for seafarer training as ‘a fairly substantial commitment’ that was helping to provide some 775 new officer trainees and 13 deck and engine watch ratings this year. The UK’s tonnage tax regime made the country one of the most competitive in the world for training purposes, added Mr Hammond.
Labour MP Graham Stringer asked the minister about concerns raised by Nautilus on the large proportion of UK-owned ships which fail to fly the UK flag. Mr Hammond admitted it was ‘disappointing’ that more than half of UK-owned ships are registered overseas and said he wanted to create the conditions to build a larger national flag.
Mr Stringer also highlighted Nautilus concerns about the competition between the UK flag and Red Ensign Group (REG) registers such as the Isle of Man, Bermuda and the Cayman Islands. Sir Allan Massey, head of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency, said the REG gave ‘strength in depth’ to the UK, although he admitted that working conditions for seafarers on REG ships were not covered by European Union standards.
Source: Nautilus International