PNG facing shortage of seafarers, says NMSA

By ZARA KANU
THERE is a shortage of seafarers in Papua New Guinea, according to the National Maritime Safety Authority (NMSA).
NMSA executive manager (maritime administration), Paul Alloy said during the Australasian Marine Pilots Institute 2024 Regional Pilotage and Ports Conference in Port Moresby this week that “if you look at the number of ships along the coast, we are currently managing these vessels but in the long term if there are more ships coming into our ports, we may be faced with a situation where the pilots are overworked and pose other risks to their health and operation of work.”
This current issue is posing a challenge for the authority to address current gaps in its regulations which covers areas of insurance, indemnity, stages to get licence, penalties, reporting process, discipline, mining and exploration prospects and offshore piloting.
The pilotage appraisal committee in its role in implementing marine pilot standards, has provided 11 pilotage service provider licences to date, 48 individual marine pilot licences of which five are inactive, 35 class-one licences, seven class-two licences and six class-three licences.
“We need to beef up the number of pilots because currently our licensed pilots are split up and one pilot manages three or four ports at one time,” Alloy said.
“After sorting a movement in one port, pilots have to be at the next port to manage the movements and while travelling we have issue of fatigue and it’s not healthy for work.”
Alloy said he had raised an issue where NMSA could make an exception to move its pilots up a class to manage the bigger vessels and make way for the creation of more seafarers into the industry.
“From the presentations we have heard, some countries have actually gone out to universities and colleges to employ and train while on the job.
“We are looking at these options, but traditionally, these positions have been filled by former sea captains, masters or students from a maritime school or background,” Alloy said.
NMSA executive manager (maritime operations) Captain Krzysztof Orlowski said the authority had proposed legal reforms for pilotage standards which aim to provide regulatory and supervision of the pilots and pilotage services in the maritime industry.