THE number of foreign nationals working on UK-registered ships under Certificate of Equivalent Competency arrangements continues to top the total number of UK nationals serving on vessels of all flags, according to the Department for Transport’s Annual Seafarer Statistics, released today.

Meanwhile, the overall number of British ratings increased almost 5% last year, representing the first rise in numbers employed since 2011.

However, the jump was almost entirely confined to the catering and onboard services departments, with the number of engine ratings down 13% to just 740, and the number of deck ratings flatlining.

Shipping trade association the UK Chamber of Shipping and trade unions RMT and Nautilus International were this morning all cautious about the big picture, arguing that the state of maritime employment in Britain is not as healthy as the numbers would at first appear to suggest.

In 2015, there were 11,230 non-UK nationals with valid CECs, with Poles comprising 16% of the total. India was next on 12%, followed by Russia and India on 11% and 8% respectively.

Some 10,930 Britons served as certificated officers, of which 97% were men. Males make up 99% of all certificated engineering officers.

In addition, there are 1,710 uncertificated officers, mainly working in catering and hotel functions for the cruise and ferry sectors.

Some 1,920 officer cadets were in training in the 2014/15 financial year, almost unchanged on 2013/14, with 820 new entrants under the SMarT support for maritime training state subsidy scheme.

UK Chamber of Shipping chief executive Guy Platten argued: “While these figures seem to indicate a nascent recovery in the number of active UK seafarers, we must not be blind to the challenges that our industry faces.

“The collapse of the oil price in recent years, the true impact of which is yet to be fully evaluated, and the severe challenges facing the North Sea oil and offshore industries, may not be fully reflected in these figures.

“It is therefore vital that the industry and government take decisive action to ensure that these positive trends are not stopped short.”

The figures also show that there are now 8,830 British ratings, up 410 from the corresponding figure in 2014. Seafarers at sea totalled 23,380, some 2% up on the year before.

While welcoming the uptick in ratings employment, ratings union RMT pointed out that employment gains are concentrated on catering and services grades, where the use of zero hours contracts is common, and urged the government to do more to encourage seafarer employment.

If current trends continue, Britain will have no deck and engine ratings at all by the end of the decade and will lose the capacity to operate all classes of ship, it maintained.

This could damage the UK’s skills base and harm its economic and national security, the union said.

National secretary Steve Todd said: “RMT welcomes any increase in jobs for UK seafarers but this is no time for the industry and government to start patting themselves on the back.

“The government needs to get its finger out and compel industry to use the tonnage tax scheme and new maritime apprenticeships to sign up the next generation of UK ratings in deck, engine, catering and onboard services.”

Mark Dickinson, general secretary of officers’ union Nautilus International, said: “On the surface these figures are welcome, but scratch a bit deeper and there are some worrying signs for the future and the government should beware of drawing too much satisfaction from the statistics.”

Mr Dickinson expressed particular concern about the current high levels of CEC issuance. “The number has more than doubled over the past decade, confirming our fears that they are providing a source of cheaper officers that undercuts our own seafarers and encourages avoidance of the training British officers.”

Sourced by Lloyd’s List