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Santanu Sanyal

Though there is a shortage of Indian officers for the country's flag carriers, the idea of recruiting foreign officers has evoked a sharp response.

The Shipping Ministry's decision to allow Indian-flag vessels to recruit foreign seafarers has kicked up a controversy. The General Secretary of CITU-affiliated seamen's unions, Forward Seamen's Union of India (FSUI), has been quoted as saying, that it will oppose any move to recruit foreign ratings on board Indian vessels as the Indian ratings are in oversupply.

Mumbai-based National Union of Seafarers of India, another union of seafarers, too is believed to have supported the stand taken by the FSUI.

Meanwhile, the office of the Directorate-General of Shipping has come out with the clarification that the government has no plans to allow recruitment of foreign ratings, but only limited number of officers on board Indian flag carriers. But then CITU's Secretary-General, who is also the Member of the National Shipping Board (NSB), is not convinced.

His apprehension is that once the recruitment of foreign officers starts, it will only be a matter of time before the same is allowed for ratings also. He also complains of the government's apathy towards the NSB, a statutory body under the Shipping Ministry. The NSB, according to him, is systematically bypassed by the government while taking decisions on crucial issues including the issue of recruitment of foreign seafarers.

Tax rates the key

There is no denying that there is a shortage of Indian officers for Indian flag carriers and the extent of shortage, according to one estimate, will be about 25-30 per cent. But, then, it is also felt, the shortage is largely due to the discriminatory policy pursued by the Indian government in regard income-tax rates charged for the Indian officers serving the Indian-flag vessels and the same serving the foreign flag. While the first category is required to pay taxes, the second one enjoys total exemption.

This causes a wide disparity in pay packets. The NSB has urged the Shipping Ministry to take up the matter with the Finance Ministry to bring this disparity to an end but with no positive results so far. So the exodus of Indian officers continues.

One suggestion has been to do away with the tax relief currently being granted to the Indian officers serving foreign flag vessels and to bring them under the same tax bracket as applicable to those serving the Indian flag. But the government is yet to firm up its view in this regard. It may be noted that only 13 per cent of India's sea-borne foreign trade is handled by Indian bottoms.

This means there is a complete domination of the foreign flag in the country's sea-borne trade. Perhaps the government is apprehensive that the foreign flag carriers may not take kindly to the idea of taxing their officers.

Another suggestion has been not to tax at all those serving the Indian flag and bring them at par with their counterparts serving the foreign flag.

Those advocating it point out that the revenue loss to the government will be insignificant considering the limited number of officers to benefit from such a relief. However, in this matter also, the government is yet to take any decision.

World scenario

BIMCO/ISF Manpower 2005 Update, the most comprehensive assessment of global supply and demand for seafarers and published every five years since 1990, indicates that between 2000 and 2005, the discrepancy between the supply of and demand for merchant navy officers narrowed.

In 2000, the supply of officers globally was 404,000 and the shortfall relative to demand was 16,000 or roughly four per cent. In 2005, the corresponding figures were 466,000 and 10,000 or a shortfall of 2.1 per cent. OECD countries remained an important source of supply of officers, with Asian countries having increased their importance and Eastern Europe though to a much lesser extent.

Ratings, however, were still in vast oversupply, though the gap narrowed. Thus, in 2000, the supply was estimated at 821,000 with a surplus of 222,000 or 27 per cent, and in 2005, the corresponding figures were 721,000, 135,000 and 18.7 per cent. However, these figures, as quoted in the newly published UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport, are considered only estimates as the exact number of ratings available for both international and domestic trade are difficult to obtain.

The countries of East, South East and South Asia are the major suppliers of ratings worldwide. By 2015, it is estimated, worldwide the shortfall of officers will rise to 5.9 per cent while the surplus of ratings will increase to 21.6 per cent.

Labour standards

A total of 1.2 million seafarers, mostly from developing countries, work in the world's shipping industry.

One important function of the regulatory environment in which the seafarers operate is the ability to ensure safety and a fair treatment to them. In order to update and consolidate more than 65 international labour standards developed over the past 80 years or so, a new consolidated Maritime Labour Convention was adopted at the end of the 10th maritime session of ILO's international labour conference held in February 2006.

The Convention, according to UNCTAD Review, covers most commercial shipping at the global level and may emerge as a major legal instrument and one-stop point of reference on labour standards for the entire maritime sector.

More Stories on : Shipping | Human Resources | Trade & Labour Unions | On the move

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