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Norwegian Initiatives to Improve Maritime Education and to Motivate Young Generation Join Seafaring CRISTINA DRAGOMIR Department of Management in Transports Constanta Maritime University No.104 Mircea cel Batran street, Constanta, code 900663 ROMANIA [email protected] http://www.cmu-edu.eu Abstract: Maritime transport is a key sector with strategic importance for international trade. A problem seems to threaten normal development of maritime transport: the lack of motivation met at the young generation to join seafaring. Young people are not motivated to follow a seafaring career due to several reasons like isolation from friends, family and community for long periods and stressful work in challenging conditions. In this paper is presented a best practice study-case of motivation initiatives made by the Norwegian government and Norwegian public and private institutions. The research is based on the analysis of educational materials and media articles containing information and data on the initiatives taken by Norwegian government and public and private as well as on observations made at one Norwegian institutions of higher education in maritime sciences. Main results of the study reflect the considerable benefits of the Norwegian government’s involvement in attracting young people to a sea career. Also, the emphasis on encouraging public-private partnerships appears to be favorable for the improvement of the Norwegian maritime educational system. The paper contains comparative observations and discussions regarding measures needed to be taken in Romania to improve maritime education and attraction to seafaring following the Norwegian model. Key-Words: seafarer, maritime transport, maritime human resources, cadetship, apprenticeship, cadet, practice and/or to reduce wastage from the industry, existing shortages are likely to intensify over the next decade [1].

1 Introduction Shipping activity is an aggregate of multidimensional services that boost the various aspects of human existence. In terms of economics, maritime transport represents a complex process consisting of all the acts and economic behaviors through which needs of travel and physical distribution of goods, products and persons are met, by use sea transport’s capacity. While the importance of maritime transport for global trade grows increasingly more, together with fleet size, loading capacities of the new vessels and extension of supply chains, an urgent problem threatens the normal development of maritime transport: lack of motivation to join seafaring met at the young generation. BIMCO and the International Shipping Federation (ISF) study, 2010 Update on the Worldwide Demand Supply of and Demand for Seafarers, indicate that the maritime industry will most probably face a tightening labour market, with recurrent shortages for officers, particularly as shipping markets recover. Unless measures are taken to ensure a continued rapid growth in qualified seafarer numbers, especially for officers,

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2 Maritime Education in Norway as a Way of Motivation for Joining Maritime Sector Recent statistics suggest than Norway is one of the countries with strategic importance and influence for international maritime transport, from the point of view of owned fleet and number of officers supplied. The following statistics emphasize the significant role of Norway in maritime transport and justify choosing Norway as a best-practice example in motivating young generation to join seafaring. In 2012, Norway was ranked the 8th country with the largest owned fleet with a total of 1141 national and foreign flag vessels and 43 099 867 deadweight tonnage representing an estimated market share of 3.10% [2]. Also, in 2010, Norway was the 11th biggest supplier of officers in the world, with 16 082 officers supplied, representing 2.6% market share world officers [3].

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short info about the company and a prognosis, an overview of the number of apprentices, the company plans to take in the coming years. Also, a student can find in the informative table the list of inactive company. These are companies that currently do not have apprentices [7]. Practice degree courses are intended for those who want to learn a skill in AB or motorman subject. It requires a minimum of 5 years experience in the subject to take a final examination as practice candidate. In addition, one must take a written exam interdisciplinary. The course will guide participants through the curriculum requirements for the exam. Maritime training office invites annually to a gathering of the teachers who teaches maritime studies. The aim of the meeting is increased cooperation between schools. Registration is made directly to the Marine training office. Assessorkurs is a continuing education for experienced officers who want to help in the training of cadets on board with the role of assessor. The course is also recommended for officers involved in the training of apprentices in the role of training manager. Registration is made through the shipping company. The training ships are important for recruitment to maritime professions, and there is a long list of applicants to these. The school training ship M/S GANN is one such school. The school has invested in a new ship in order to modernise and update its training facilities. The Norwegian government contributes to the financing of the school’s new ship with NOK 5 millions. In addition to the standard educational syllabus, post-qualifying and in-service training courses are important elements of the total maritime educational system. University colleges offer a number of courses, including simulator training, express launch courses, courses in passenger handling and contingency handling, safety/security and contingency work, courses in dynamic positioning, the use of electronic charts and helicopter evacuation and so forth. Four university colleges offer traditional maritime education: Tromsø, Ålesund, Stord/Haugesund and Vestfold. In addition to these are the 15 technical colleges that lie under the authority of the county councils and 15 colleges of further education that offer maritime education. The university colleges offering maritime study programmes train students in the operation of vessels and for shore-based activities. With the exception of the Vestfold University College the university colleges only enrol students for the

Yet, as in many other countries from where seafarers come, in Norway there is a growing concern of many shipping companies facing issues in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of skilled seafarers to staff and to operate their vessels [4]. This paper presents several Norwegian initiatives taken by the government, as well as by public and private institutions, to promote seafaring among young people and to improve seafaring education. The research is based on information and data available on educational circulars, materials and media articles and on observations made in 2011 at Molde University College from Norway during a teacher exchange program supported by RoNoMar Romanian-Norwegian funding project. Molde University College was upgraded in January 2010 to Specialized University in Logistics [5].

3 Governmental Initiatives to Sustain Training and Maritime Education in Norway There are three main parties in the Norwegian merchant maritime educational system: institutions of further education, technical colleges, and universities/university colleges. In addition, the military operates education at the Norwegian Naval Academy resulting in certification. To improve maritime education and to comply with maritime international regulations and conventions, the Norwegian government place a large interest in creating training opportunities. Maritimt Opplæringskontor, maritime training offices South / West Norway [6] is an authorized training company for seamen, motor man, ship electrician, cook and office. The office was established in 1996 and is currently owned by 50 member companies of Vest-Agder, Rogaland and Hordaland. These shipping companies own and or operates cargo vessels, tugs, offshore service vessels, tankers, bulk carriers, reefers, research ships, ferries and passenger ferries. Over the past five years the number of apprenticeship contracts in the maritime training office varied between 350 and 400. There are three other maritime training offices in Norway: in Tønsberg, Ålesund and Tromsø. As a method to promote apprenticeship, on the website http://www.maropp.no of Maritimt Opplæringskontor there is an informative table with approximately 50 member companies connected to them. Most of these can offer an apprenticeship. The table contains new shipping companies that have apprentices currently, the company's own website,

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nautical programme. In 2006 there were only 15 students enrolled in the ships engineer programme. In addition there is a number of engineering educational opportunities offered that are relevant to the maritime sector, including both the traditional shipping activities and the oil and gas industry. Amongst others the NTNU (The Norwegian University of Science and Technology) has a long tradition in offering education in marine engineering. The University College in Bergen also offers courses in marine engineering as well as a newly established study programme in sub-sea technology. The Norwegian government contributes to the establishment of programmes at master level in maritime management by allocating funds for the development of such studies. The situation for maritime education and the estimated requirements for future workforces indicate that one must focus on quality and cooperation between the educational institutions. The Norwegian government investigates and report on how the quality and future structure of maritime education can be improved with the aim of attracting more students/pupils to enrol in and complete this branch of education. Technical maritime school equipment is essential in order to secure the students are provided with a sound basis for a future career in shipping. In order to safeguard that the infrastructure in maritime schools and colleges is updated, the government is allocating NOK 10 millions to school equipment. The government will revert with regard to application criteria for funding. It is claimed that the dropout rate is a problem for maritime education. In order to sort out this problem, one is currently evaluating the reorganisation of the syllabus so that students are given diploma studies and simulator training at an earlier stage in the studies, which it is believed will be a motivating factor. Further, emphasis will be placed on cooperation with ship-owners so that students can work for periods in the maritime industry in order to improve their motivation to continue the studies. The government has constituted a public committee that will evaluate how technical and professional training can be best equipped to meet the future challenges. There is relatively little research and development work carried out with regard to engineering and maritime educational environments.

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The Norwegian government believes that the scope of R&D work in maritime related education must be increased. The industry itself must be an initiative taker and co-operating partner in achieving this.

4 Norwegian Governmental Measures to Sustain Cooperation in Maritime Education There are three main parties Norwegian maritime education is spread out nationwide. It is therefore a challenge to improve the effectiveness and quality of the education offered. There is also a need for better co-ordination of maritime education in Norway. There is local co-operation on certain aspects, in particular further and continuing education, teacher exchange, the use of simulators and so forth. A number of companies have cooperative agreements with technical colleges, and several companies have established maritime educational centres for courses, joint use of equipment and so forth. Even though improved cooperation is called for, there are already a number of excellent initiatives in place. In addition to local co-operative initiatives, the government will assess whether there is a need for stronger co-operation at national level. The government is positive to the initiative taken by the industry’s participants for a report on a main centre for maritime expertise in cooperation between the industry, the authorities and educational institutions. The industry is also looking at the possibility of establishing a centre of expertise with an educational programme that can attract both Norwegian and foreign students and with a strong focus on research activities. Depending on what one is looking for in the flora of maritime expertise in Norway, a centre of expertise could be situated at a number of locations in the country. One solution may be to appoint a single educational institution as the key-point with responsibility for coordinating the academic element, strategic development and marketing. This centre of expertise model has the potential to become a highly competitive participant in the international market place. Other countries have already successfully established centres of this type like the National Maritime College of Ireland and “Lighthouse” in Gothenburg. The government will evaluate any initiative that may be put forward by the industry concerning the development of a potential model in Norway. For example, in Sweden, Chalmers Technical College in Gothenburg and the Swedish Shipowner’s Association have established a centre

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During labour shortage in the 70’s, there were some initiative to transform the austere world of the ship into a floating village; a self contained community with whole families on board. A Norwegian owner was remarkably successful in this social experiment, which was operated on a bulk carrier, crewed by families and with a teacher for the children. Shorter tours of duty have been mentioned as the sort of incentives that could persuade seafarers to stay at sea rather longer, while there needs to be some serious work done on the interior design of ships, to make them more attractive for a small crew, to minimise the social exclusion that might be felt in the modern „tower block” of accommodation in which seafarers live. Less bureaucracy and paperwork, fewer checks and inspections would also help, as seafarers feel that they are being continuoulsy audited and verified. There should be emphasised the positive side of seafaring, that there are few jobs which offer such early responsibility to diligent young people, with reasonable rewards and great deal of professional interest. There are qualifications which are recognised worldwide and demand for seafaring skills certain to grow, year on year. There are career moves both offshore and ashore in the marine infrastructure available for seafarers [10]. Shipping should be seen as an exiting, rewarding, and fulfilling career — a career that can take people almost anywhere, both in terms of geographical and in terms of the sort of work they make. A career in seafaring not only provides an adventure and thrill to the youth, it provides fortunes one seeks in young age in a short period. In earlier periods, seafarers had no option when they chose a sea career as a cadet after passing their matriculation. Now, no one has to be a sailor for lifetime. Older generations of seafarers who had no training opportunities had to be a sailor lifelong with the same limited income. This is not the case today with young seamen with a B.Sc. degree in nautical science which one gets after completion of a threeyear course on board ships. New entrant gets not only a package that one gets in other jobs at much later period of one’s service, but even a flexibility to shift to other shipping or non-shipping jobs at a very young age. The salary is substantial. This is not possible in any other profession or job onshore. Many seafaring jobs are now offered by foreign shipping companies on contract basis with a huge packages. Demand of seafarers was increasing because of increasing trend in shipping of export and import cargoes through cheapest sea routes. The

for Nordic maritime expertise “Lighthouse” in Gothenburg. The centre’s main activities are research and education. The centre’s aim is to develop expertise for the future for the Swedish shipping industry. The goal for the period 20062015 is that approximately 1 billion Swedish kroner will be invested in maritime education, research and development. The target is that 2 000 students will successfully sit for examinations from six studies in these fields, 100 Doctorate scholarships in a variety of study lines and 100 research and development projects with a focus on shipping. The vision is to be the first choice for maritime research, development and education. In 2006 Ireland established The National Maritime College of Ireland. The College is a cooperative project between The Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Navy. The College is partially privately financed. The public partners are The Cork Institute of Technology and the Irish Navy Training College. The private partner is Focus Education Ltd. The model makes it possible for the College’s administration and teachers to focus on that the students acquire the requisite skills and knowledge. Focus Education Ltd. is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the institution. The College offers a wide range of educational training to the maritime industry. With advanced simulators, technical machinery rooms and a training unit for sea rescue, the College is an advanced centre of education for crew and officers for both merchant and military vessels [8].

5 Other Ways of Promoting Interest in Joining Maritime Sector for Young People Due to the current public and academic attention placed on the Norwegian maritime cluster, there exists a dearth of academic studies focused on the experiences of the highly qualified Norwegian seafarers who helped to shape the maritime industry. The qualitative method of career narratives is used to explore the richness of experiences associated with seafaring as a calling. Norwegian scholars are encouraged to participate in future conversations with multiple maritime stakeholders to continue the process of recovering the call to seafaring careers [9]. If communication is seen to be so important to young people, then instant and accessible worldwide communications solutions should be provided on board. Phones with videos could help to make seafaring less marginalised by distance.

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Romanian people to choose a seafarer career and to work for foreign ship owners for more appealing level of wages compared to on shore jobs. In Romania, at the moment of speaking, seafaring can be studied in maritime schools and universities and in nautical colleges. University studies ends with the diploma of engineer and last four years, including the practice of maritime safety and mandatory courses. In college the studies last two years and are added one year of compulsory practical courses and at least another five months for practice. Seafaring is attractive for Romanians even from the university years, as students have the opportunity to gain significant wage during practice periods. They usually receive an approximate wage of 1,000 euros per month representing the shipowner’s allowance offered aboard ship and the Erasmus program that supplements this allowance. Also, European Commission grants 1,000 euro per month for practice through Leonardo program. After graduation, officers gain minimum 1,500 euros

maritime education provided newer job opportunities in marine insurance, marine ecology and environment, ocean engineering, off-shore engineering, maritime safety and management, hydrographic data management, oceanography and ocean mapping. Career in this field is both thrilling and full of adventure besides being monetarily attractive [11].

6 Comparative Observations Discussions Regarding Romania

and

Main results of the research presented in this paper show that involvement of the Norwegian government and the public-private partnerships in maritime sector bring considerable benefits in improving maritime education and in attracting young people to a sea career. Taking into account the opinion of M. Popa [12], development of maritime industry and the response of the higher maritime education to the demands of the industry play an important role in defying the right scenarios for implementing new collaborations in maritime education, research and maritime industry. Solutions to problems like the lack of attraction for seafaring and the world defficit of seafarers officers and ratings are not found and applied by one single person anymore, but within a networked team, spread over the whole globe. The Norwegian example represent only one of the many inititatives taken by maritime countries and in particular by European countries. European Comission encourages with legislative, economic and financial support the development of maritime clusters and networks of universities, as well as public - private partnerships with the aim of improving maritime transport and maritime education. The financial and legislative support brought by local governments is also vital for the development of maritime education. At the end of 1989, Romania had 301 commercial ships with a transport capacity of 6,185,000 dwt and 9,000 seafarers, officers and ratings. In 2011, although there remained only five Romanian flag commercial ships, there were registered in the Romanian Naval Authority 27,751 Romanian officers, 9,524 ratings and 5,324 auxiliaries. Compared to the decreasing number of young people from developed countries that are motivate to join seafaring, in developing countries it is noticed an increasing of the number of young people who want to become. This is also the case of Romania. The disappearance of the Romanian national fleet after 1989 did not discourage young

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per month and at the age of 35-40 years old, chief engineers and masters earn minimum 7000-8000 per month. Taking into account that in March 2013 the medium Romanian net wage was the equivalent of 372.62 euro [13], the interest of Romanian young people in seafaring is more than understandable.

In order to become a graduated naval officer, a student must fulfill the mandatory practice period, named cadetship. During the present economic crisis and recession, Romanian maritime students are facing great difficulties in finding a cadet practice opportunity aboard ship. Many foreign ship-owners benefit from the current economic conditions and hire cadets on lower than ordinary wages or even make available cadetship places without remuneration. In European and non-European countries that have specialized maritime schools there are laws according to which any vessel registered under the national flag have to accept necessarily trainee seafarers on board (cadets) to make the mandatory practice [14]. In March 2013, an amendment regarding opportunities to make cadetship on board Romanian flag vessels was rejected by the Parliament, though there is an urgent national need to create cadetship positions for Romanian students. If approved in the primary form with all the amendments, the Government’s Ordinance no.19/2012 amending and supplementing Government’s Ordinance no.42/1997 regarding maritime transport and inland waterways would

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the maritime powers that proves to be a good example for Romania in attracting people to seafaring and improving maritime education.

have resolve the crisis of cadetship places for the approximately 1,500 cadets coming out every year, in Romanian maritime educational institutions. Without adequate conditions for fullfiling the mandatory practice aboard ship, Romanian young people are discouraged to enroll in a seafaring university from which they cannot graduate as a maritime officer in order to work as a seafarer. In Romania, at the moment of speaking, seafaring is attractive for young generations due to the high wage level compared to onshore wages, but there are not enough proper conditions to follow the educational requirments demanded by the international maritime regulations and conventions. Therefore, the Norwegian case of best practice presented in this paper can be taken into account by the Romanian authorities in order to improve maritime education and gain benefits from the national expanding maritime education sector and maritime industry.

References: [1] ***, Worldwide Supply and Demand for Seafarers, BIMCO/ISF, 2010. [2] ***, Review of Maritime Transport, UNCTAD, New York and Geneva, 2012, p.41. [3] ***, Review of Maritime Transport, UNCTAD, New York and Geneva, 2011, p.159. [4] ***, United Kingdom: Challenge to the Industry - Securing Skilled Crews in Today’s Marketplace, Deloitte Energy, Infrastructure & Utilities Group, 17 February 2011, available at http://www.mondaq.com/article.asp?articleid=1 23404, accessed at 29.01.2013. [5] http://www.himolde.no, accessed at 17.05.2013 [6] Maritimt Opplæringskontor Sør/Vest Norge [7] http://www.maropp.no/maritim-utdanning [8] ***, The Norwegian Maritime Strategy 2007 Steady as she goes, Ministry of Trade and Industry, 2007. [9] K. Mack, When Seafaring Is (or Was) a Calling: Norwegian Seafarers' Career Experiences, Maritime Policy & Management, available at http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~db=a ll~content=t713694970~tab=issueslist~branche s=34 - v3434, No.4, 2007. [10] ***, Can Seafaring Be Made More Attractive?, BIMCO Seascapes, issue 6.01.2003, https://www.bimco.org/Corporate/Education/Se ascapes/Questions_of_shipping/Can_seafaring be_made_more_attractive.aspx [11] ***, India: Seafaring an Attractive Career Now, DNA, 16 April 2010, available at http://www.globmaritime.com/news/shippinglogistics/4377-india-seafaring-an-attractivecareer-now.html, accessed at 30.01.2013. [12] M. S. Popa, Innovation and Creativity in the Cooperation Between Universities and Industry, International Journal of Modern Manufacturing Technologies, Vol. IV, No. 1 / 2012, p.107 [13] http://www.insse.ro/cms/rw/pages/castiguri912013.ro.do [14] I. Tiţa-Călin, Cum poate fi rezolvată criza locurilor de practică pentru cadeţi, Cuget Liber, issue 06 Martie 2013, available at http://www.cugetliber.ro/stiri-economie-cumpoate-fi-rezolvata-criza-locurilor-de-practicapentru-cadeti-166846

7 Conclusion Norwegian maritime industry is affected by the lack of seafarers, engineers, graduate engineers and candidates with technical or scientific educational backgrounds. Norwegian government highly contributes in improving maritime education and attracting young people to the maritime domain by financing technical maritime bachelor programs and master programmes studies in maritime management or by financing maritime schools’ training ships. Also, in Norway many shipping companies have cooperative agreements with technical colleges and the government provide support for the development of maritime educational clusters and for establishment of maritime educational centres based on such cooperation between private maritime companies and maritime colleges. In the case of Romania, seafaring is attractive for young generation due to the remuneration level. But there are not proper conditions for apprenticeship in order to have an adequate maritime education. Proper measures must be taken by the government and maritime institutions, otherwise, without fullfiling the mandatory practice aboard ship, Romanian young people will be discouraged in enrolling in a seafaring university. Being one of the top 20 maritime countries from the point of view of fleet size and officers’ supply and due to the diversity of actions and legislative measures taken by the Norwegian government and institutions, we can consider that Norway is one of

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