Introduction
Shortage of Malaysian seafarers to man Malaysian ships has been a long standing issue. The association of Malaysian professional seafarers IKMAL noted a drop from 77% Malaysian seafarers on Malaysian ships in 1994 to only about 50% in 2001 (Jaffar Lamri, President IKMAL. Personal Communication 8 June 2004). This is substantiated by a study done by the Maritime Institute of Malaysia (MIMA), a research institute under the Ministry of Transport Malaysia (Noor Apandi, 2001). Apart from the obvious reason as the driving force for the shipping sector, sea experience is also relevant to many of the shore based jobs in the maritime industry. The maritime industry includes manufacturing, that is, ship building, resource extraction, that is, gas, services, that is, ports, fisheries and shipping, etc (Mak and Nesathurai, 2000). A study published by Marine Policy in 1999 identifies more than 20 business categories where seafaring experience is considered as an advantage by employers (Gardner and Pettit, 1999). As the industry grows so will the need for human resources. Therefore, it is important to have an adequate supply of trained and experienced manpower pool to feed these requirements.
This paper will revisit this issue with the aim to establish the current seafarer profile serving on Malaysian ships; identify issues, problems and possible solutions to increase the number of Malaysian seafarers.
Malaysian shipping
Development of the Malaysian shipping industry is the result of a national policy which emphasises a greater self sufficiency in shipping services (WTO, 2002). It is aimed at reducing outflow of freight payments to non-national shipping lines. In line with this, the government felt that there is a necessity to promote the growth of a national merchant fleet. As a result, the Malaysian shipping fleet continues to expand, as illustrated in the statistics compiled by the Ministry of Transport, Malaysia (Malaysian Shipping Registry). According to these, from a total of 3,033 ships in 1999, the fleet has grown to 3,582 ships, or 18%, by 2003.
Table 1 lists the type and number of ships registered in Malaysia from 1982 to August 2003 (MOT et al., 2003).
Malaysian maritime traning
There are 13 institutes in Malaysia, approved by the Marine Department (MARDEP), which provide seafarers training (Marine Department of Malaysia, 2004). Only two of these provide training to new entrants: Maritime Academy Malaysia (ALAM) for cadets and ratings, and Politeknik Ungku Omar (PUO) for engine cadets only. The remaining 11 institutions only provide modular courses that are required by the industry, for example, fire fighting, survival, communication and security courses. These modular courses are mandatory short courses that seafarers must take in addition to their main curriculum in order to comply with STCW 95 and to maintain their professional certification.
Almost all maritime trainees in Malaysia are sponsored from the moment that they are accepted for training. The trainees are then bonded to service their sponsors. Sponsors include shipping companies, ports and government agencies.
In 2001, it was found that not many youngsters are applying to join the seafaring career. In 2004, there is a complete reversal with ALAM receiving more than 10,000 applications for 200 available places (ALAM, 2004). The main reason for this is likely to be the success of promotion of seafaring career by ALAM and the industry.
However, the number of those accepted does not increase correspondingly due to various reasons. Chief among these is the fact that there is a decline in sponsorship for cadets, and difficulty in finding berth for training and employment on board ships (Zainal, 2004). The difficulty in finding berth for training is experienced by non-ship-owning sponsors and self-sponsored trainees. Practical training on board is essential as part of the process for certification. Those unable to obtain berth for training on board will therefore not be able to continue their certification process. For example, a cadet who does not go through practical training on board ship will not be able to move on to become an officer.
MIMA's 2004 seafarer survey
In order to obtain the current profile of seafarers serving on Malaysian ships, survey questionnaires were sent to more than 200 companies identified as shipping companies in Malaysia. These companies were selected using the Malaysian Maritime Directory, members list from Malaysian Ship-owners Association (MASA) and MIMA's correspondence list. Telephone calls were made to further confirm their nature of business. The companies involved range from a national shipping company operating hundreds of ships, to a one-ship company. The sample covers those engaged in international, domestic and near coastal trade.
The questionnaire used for the survey is divided into four sections. Section one gathers information about the company, section two about the ships managed or owned by the company, section three about the seafarers employed by the company and section four on employment and training.
2004 seafarer survey result
The survey was conducted in the first quarter of 2004. A total of 215 questionnaires were sent by fax and mail and were followed up by telephone calls in an effort to obtain response. In total, 51 shipping companies responded (response rate 24%). Two of these were excluded from the analysis as they are no longer managing or operating ships.
The remaining 49 Malaysian shipping companies control among them a total of 355 ships. A total of 5,084,872 gross registered tonnes was recorded by this survey. In comparison, the official statistics of Malaysian registered ships, up to August 2003, records 7,308,308 tonnes (MOT et al., 2003). Thus, the survey covers 70% of the GRT recorded in the Malaysian registry. The survey in addition shows that a small number of companies control a large number of ships.
Out of 355 ships, 179 were engaged in international trade, 94 engaged in domestic trade and 82 operated in near coastal trade.
A total of 12,755 seafarers were employed on these ships. The breakdown according to rank and department is provided in Table 2.
In total, there are only 4,894 Malaysian seafarers (38%) currently serving on Malaysian ships involved in this survey. It should also be noted that this includes more than 3,000 foreign seafarers serving in the hotel/entertainment sector on cruise ships. Since seafarers serving in this sector have different training and certification requirements, they are excluded from the analysis of the profile of Malaysian seafarers.
To make up the remaining manpower requirements on those ships, seafarers from various nationalities are employed. More than 40 nationalities were identified, including Americans, Lithuanians and Yugoslavs, with substantial numbers coming from China, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.
To better portray the situation, the statistics is further broken down to focus on officers/engineers and crew/ratings in order to see clearly the number of Malaysian or foreign seafarers employed on Malaysian ships.
There are thus 2,267 Malaysian seafarers representing 51% of the total manning needs for officers and engineers on these ships. The requirement for the remaining 49% was met utilising the services of foreign seafarers.
As regards crew/ratings, there are 2,554 Malaysians, representing 53% of the total requirement. The remaining 47% is fulfilled by foreign seafarers. This excludes those employed as hotel/entertainment staff (73 Malaysian and 3,361 foreigners) on cruise ships.In general, all legal matters relating to shipping are covered under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance (MSO) of 1952. This applies to Malaysian ships, licensed boats and other merchant ships navigating in federal territorial waters (Marine Department of Malaysia, 2004). The MSO covers issues ranging from registry of ships to certification of seamen and includes various other shipping-related activities such as pilotage and wreck and salvage.
Seafarers, apart from the requirements outlined by the MSO, must also adhere to the requirements of rules made pursuant to Section 71 of the MSO. These rules, titled as 'The Merchant Shipping Rules, 1999' cover manning, hours of work and watch keeping; medical examination; and training and certification. The MSO and merchant shipping rules stipulate that companies must ensure that seafarers in their employ hold appropriate certificates in relation to their job function on the ship.
Companies wishing to engage in domestic shipping must comply with the requirements of the domestic shipping license, which is regulated by the Domestic Shipping Licensing Board under direct purview of the Ministry of Transport Malaysia. This is the only regulation that specifically requires companies to make an effort to employ at least 75% Malaysian citizens as crew on their ship.
Incentives for malaysia shipping
The shipping industry in Malaysia has been enjoying a generous tax incentive scheme. The incentives include tax exemption for the income of a shipping company derived from the operation of Malaysian ships, and this also applies to the income of any person derived from exercising an employment on board a Malaysian ship (MIDA, 2004).
Apart from tax exemption, the Government, through Bank Industri & Teknologi Malaysia, provides the industry with an RM1 billion shipping provident fund.
Consolidating the facts
Judging by the shipping registry records, Malaysian shipping is expanding. The numbers of Malaysian seafarers are not increasing corresponding to this. Training institutions are getting more applications than ever but have to limit new entrants as there is difficulty in finding berth for training and employment on board ships. There is no specific requirement for Malaysian content on Malaysian ships apart from the Domestic Shipping Licensing Board requirements. Shipping has been enjoying tax exemptions and access to funds.
