Slowing growth in the size of the shipping fleet will reduce the shortage of officers over the coming years, according to a new report by Drewry.
“The global shipping fleet – encompassing ships over 10,000-dwt – is expected to rise by 300 vessels through 2016-2020,” it says.
“As a result, the shortage in officer supply is forecast to reduce from 20,900 at the end of 2015 to 7,700 by the end of 2020.”
The global shipping consultancy says 2015 proved to be a dreadful one for the entire shipping sector, with the exception of oil tankers.
“Growing concerns in the global economy and depressed freight earnings have forced owners to refrain from contracting new orders, while order cancellations and vessel demolitions have become a regular feature of the market,” Drewry said.
“Poor freight earnings are forcing owners and operators to reduce costs, in turn keeping any increase in wage levels to a bare minimum.
“While manning costs for 2016 are largely similar to those in 2015, in some sectors, such as LNG, there have been some uplifts in wage costs over the past year.”
However, Drewry says the offshore sector, in particular, has witnessed wage reductions in light of falling oil prices and an uncertain economic outlook.
“With the growth in the size of the cargo carrying fleet tapering off, we expect the ongoing officer shortage to ease and for wage costs to increase modestly over the next five years”, said Nikhil Jain, senior analyst at Drewry
