Sustainable planning - Reap what you sow

Imagine you’ve just secured an attractive long-term time charter with an A-rated corporation, you’ve landed a great number on the finance, you’ve signed the newbuild contracts and approved a Technical Manager. You are pretty much ready to get in to action…time now to book some PnL and ‘high five’ the team for a job well done?

Not so fast! – there is long-term resource short, in the form of competent seafarers, that needs to be managed. Possibly not your direct problem – but it will be when your ships can’t move or operate as directed.

The common approaches are to either 'buy' your talent from the market, 'build' from within, or a mixture of both. Fundamentally driven by the looming skills shortage and compounded by the pandemic, 'buying' competence is becoming ever more competitive and complex. Commonly undervalued; often misunderstood. The men and women who make life sacrifices like no landlubber could imagine – year in and year out – are, for the sustainable thinkers, the ones to focus on. If UN and ICS stats are correct, only about 0.034% of the world’s working age population are seafarers – yet collectively they enable about 90% of world trade – so strategies need to be properly considered.

Stonefort Marine consultancy is very encouraged by the fact it has begun dialogue with a future thinking Shipping Manager. The type of Manager any wise Owner, Banker, Insurer or Charterer would want looking after ‘their’ interests. One that knows that their crucial business enablers includes the people who ‘swing the valves and push the buttons’ – always ready to go the extra mile at any time of day or night. They are looking at the entire capability pipeline; recognising it takes at least a decade to acquire the experience & certification, even before those interested begin a shore-based career. To thrive, Leadership teams in shipping need thought diversity as well as physical experience on the assets they manage. Determined to manage this risk objectively, we believe this Manager will succeed where others may one day fail.