Opportunities on Offshore Vessels
Last week an Indian Shipping company offered 12000 USD to an Indian Master.

That too for a vessel operating in Indian waters where you don’t need a foreign-going certificate, a coastal certificate being enough.

Unthinkable!

Just 4 years back the average salaries were 2000 USD. A whopping six-fold rise.

Till very recently the Indian Navy used to be fodder for the domestic shipping. DGS has stopped issuing Certificate of Service (COS) to naval lieutenants since 1986. As a result COS from Navy has dried up and a combination of market forces has driven the salaries up to stratosphere.

A piece written by an OSV Master sailing in South African waters provides an interesting insight of the Offshore market. It was written about 6 months back when oil prices had touched 90 USD per barrel.

Capt. Raj S Chakravorty

Offshore Vessels: - Manpower/Ship handling Skills/Training.

Background:

Crude oil prices are currently ruling at a historic high. With the accelerated GDP growth in BRIC countries viz Brazil, Russia, India & China, the incremental growth in oil consumption is bound to keep them high. The prevailing oil prices may be a matter of concern for the consumers but for the players engaged in oil exploration industry it is a win-win situation as this would lead to greater opportunities. High oil prices force the oil exploration companies to seek greener pastures. The drilling and exploration activities onshore have already reached saturation point in shallow waters. Therefore oil majors have no option but to train their sights in deeper waters and relatively unexplored offshore sector.

1. Manpower:
The only point of grave concern for Indian offshore industry would be inadequate availability of skilled man power, which needs to be addressed urgently. The exposure gained by naval officers by virtue of handling twin screw vessels whilst in service, made them ideal candidates for joining the offshore industry. The majority of deck officers in OSVs are ex navy. The reduced inflow of ex naval officers in the offshore industry has already caused problems in man-power costs. Let us examine the current scenario for Great Eastern Shipping on the basis of SWOT analysis. This article is primarily restricted to availability of manpower in offshore sector.

a. Strength:
Gesco is an existing player in offshore sector. Rated by personnel as number one amongst the domestic companies. Continues to be first choice of seafarers aspiring to switch over to the offshore sector. The current expansion and deployment of offshore vessels is leading to widespread exposure and quicker promotions for the fleet personnel. The company should continue to attract fresh talent. The problem area will be retention of the experienced floating staff.

b. Weaknesses:
i. Certification system: The existing certification system is skewed towards main fleet in terms of counting of sea time for competency exams. Bright & talented youngsters would rather opt for main fleet. The offshore sector would have to depend upon coastal certification (NCV) for meeting its manpower requirement. The NCV certification is not likely to generate desired quality officers. The primary source of input for offshore sector is middle aged seafarers looking for a second career.

ii. Reduced inflow of retired naval officers: Section 80 of merchant shipping act 1958 was repealed in 1986. The youngest officer today in possession of COS is 45 years old. A number of officers opt for premature retirement when they become eligible for pension. In the present scenario officers leaving service are without COS and cannot join shipping without a lengthy certification process. DG Shipping has recently issued MS notice no 08/2006 which facilitates the conversion of naval officers to Certificate of competency (NCV/FG limited to 3000 GRT). The service onboard OSV would be counted 2/3. For becoming an NCV Master he will require 18 months sea service as NCV mate, which translates to 27 months of actual sea service. Considering the 2 months on/off policy, the average time required for converting from NCV mate to master would be about 6 years, which is a very long period and will further aggravate shortage of masters in the offshore industry.

iii. Non standardisation of Pay scales: The emoluments of the contractual floating staff are fixed on adhoc basis & no parity is maintained vis-à-vis seniority and experience. It is recommended that the emoluments rather than being fixed on individual basis be linked with the grades.

iv. Long term stake: The majority of floating staff is employed on contractual basis and hence it is very difficult to foster a long term relationship. Presently the stakes for the contractual floating staff are minimal. Measures such as introduction of provident fund for contractual staff can be explored or even employees stock option can be considered.

v. Introduction of Dynamic Positioning: Consequent to introduction of dynamic positioning, there would be lesser incentive to learn ship handling skills. So far the remuneration onboard the DP vessels have been better than OSV and since no manual handling is involved the stress is also lower. The majority of new seafarers joining the offshore sector are only looking for a career in DP vessels.

c. Opportunity:
i. Shorter tenure: There is general preference amongst seafarers to go for shorter sea tenures. The offshore industry offers shorter tenure and hence it would continue to attract officers from the main fleet.

ii. Availability of ex naval officers: A large number of naval officers retire every year from active service and hence are available for the offshore industry. With the removal of COS, there is bound to be reduction of inflow of naval officers. The offshore industry must do some hard selling by interacting with the navy.

iii. Take the case of the booming civil aviation industry; it is more than happy to absorb ex pilots from armed forces. Then why the same is not happening in the booming offshore industry? It is pertinent to mention that for joining civil aviation similar exams are conducted by DGCA. The major difference is in the passing percentage, which is higher for an aviator compared to naval officers. Logically obtaining civil pilot license should be more difficult.

d. Threat:
i. Opportunities ashore: With the rapid growth in GDP, the number of openings ashore have increased. Till recently it was difficult for a seafarer to get absorbed in well paying shore jobs but the scenario has changed. There are numerous instances where chief officers/masters have quit offshore industry within a relatively short period of time for taking up shore assignments.

ii. Rampant poaching: In view of unprecedented boom in offshore sector the shortage of skilled seafarers is likely to get further aggravated .The shortages will lead to rampant poaching. If the manpower situation is considered bad today, tomorrow it can only become worse.

II. Ship handling skills:

Acquiring ship handling skills require aptitude, patience, interest & boldness on part of the students desirous of becoming ship handlers. Handling of OSV is some what similar to driving a car and there is no mystique or greatness involved in becoming a good handler. When an average person can acquire driving skills and negotiate the torturous traffic of cities then why the same can not be replicated in OSV. Knowledge of seamanship and understanding the effect of tide and current on vessel is more than enough for acquiring basic ship handling skills. The art of ship handling has been made to appear extremely complicated by seafarers, who are jealously guarding their turf and perceive that they have acquired great skills which are difficult for ordinary mortals to comprehend.

The most important key to imparting ship handling skills is the willingness & attitude of the master to impart practical training to his subordinates. Although the PSV is not an ideal platform for learning ship handling skill, one of the greatest advantages of working on PSV is that it removes the fear of handling. The candidates who posses requisite aptitude should be identified early and posted on PSV for obtaining accelerated exposure to offshore vessels.

One of the prerequisite for a future master should be to have requisite confidence in handling conventional vessels. Not withstanding introduction of DP system onboard , the future masters should be advised to continually practice ship handling skills when ever possible . There are various types of rigs & platforms in Bombay high and hence one is able to get widespread exposure. Bombay high continues to remain by far the best learning ground. It would be an added advantage if some how more company vessels can operate in Bombay high rather than in isolated and small oil fields.

III. Training:
The training should comprise of theory as well as practical training on simulator. The detailed syllabi and content can be worked out at later stage.

1. Theory: All deck officers joining offshore industry for the first time should be made to undergo one day capsule course on under mentioned subjects. The training can be conjoined with the induction programme.

1.Ship handling principles. Topics from Danton seamanship.
2.Berthing/unberthing from Jetty.
3.OSV and its functioning.
4.Rigs/Platforms.

2. Practical: The practical training on simulators can be imparted prior to commencement of second tenure. Various anchor handling simulators are available in the market. Based on inputs from various sources, Naval Maritime Academy (NAMAC) has already prepared guidelines for anchor handling simulator. NAMAC has already installed ship handling simulator and adding anchor handling simulator should not be much of problem. Various types of simulator training which could be undertaken are as given below.
3. Basic: The module could be of one day duration. The basic ship handling only needs to be simulated. Various injections of current and wind can be given. The candidates can practice positioning of the vessel with in a circle of limited radius.

4. Advanced: The module could be of two days duration. The exercise would involve the real life situation where in direction of tidal flow has to be ascertained. Conditions similar to the Bombay high field can be simulated. In addition towing/anchor handling exercise can also be carried out.

IV. Conclusion:

1. Bridging the demand/supply gap: It is a sad paradox that in country like India which boasts of ample man power should be facing difficulties in meeting demand for its own offshore sector. Brushing the problem under the carpet by saying quality man power is not available would be akin to ostrich like attitude. The tremendous growth of the service sector in India has only been possible due to resilience and capabilities of our man power .The developed countries due to their ageing population are increasingly looking to India for sourcing their man power requirement. A major source like ex naval officers should be aggressively tapped by the industry. The methodology for conversion of certificate of service from STCW convention 78 to 95 and the resultant court cases has vitiated the atmosphere. As for as meeting the requirements of the offshore industry are concerned both the parties DG Shipping & Navy appear to be sitting on the opposite fence. The good part is that the gap of late has narrowed down. The basic problem how ever still remains the prevailing mindset of the facilitator, which works more efficiently in denial mode rather than meeting the requirements of Industry. With the discontinuation of certificate of service it is no longer possible for naval officers to effortlessly switch over to merchant navy. Earlier the effort was individual based in case of ex naval officers, who were seeking alternative career in merchant navy. With the rapid changing of rules and stringent requirements of sea service etc, it needs much more of an organizational effort on part of Navy by way of conducting courses & coaching classes in accordance with MS notice 08/2006.

2. Conduct of simulator training: NAMAC was way ahead of others in foreseeing the potential of offshore industry & has done pioneering work in planning & designing training for offshore industry. Not many people are aware of the fact that DG Shipping had entrusted NAMAC with the task of preparing modular courses for offshore industry based on OPITO standards. The company can tie up with NAMAC for conduct of simulator courses.

Capt. Ravinder Singh