The turbulence from the global financial meltdown is finally crashing down on the shipping industry, which appears to be increasingly headed for the docks because fewer companies are ordering goods to transport. That is bad news for the
A shortfall of officers in the global fleet, currently at 34,000, is projected to more than double by 2012. Still, the numbers aren't encouraging. Figures from the Philippine government's Overseas Employment Administration already show a 2.3 percent drop in deployment of seamen for January to October, compared with the same period last year.
Philippine Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said layoffs may happen by the first quarter, with cruise and cargo ship workers likely targets. He hopes for a recovery by the third quarter. "Up to 2011, we can foresee a deficit of about 34,000 marine officers so, we just need to keep on training people," he added.
Capt. Teodoro Quijano, vice president of the Filipino Association for Mariners Employment that groups 110 recruitment agencies, said his association had projected that a shortage of ship officers would last another five years. He said that looks unlikely now. “Instead, freight trade has slumped, and some of the 12,000 new ships ordered for delivery in 2010-13 are being canceled”, he said. "The first ones who will lose their jobs are those who are highly paid," Quijano said.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gNWZjyexzXLoLWB_ckcfTJF-EDqAD94VKISO0
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