Restrictions on crew change and repatriations are impacting cadets at a time when the shipping industry desperately needs to recruit more young people.
Crew travel problems can have a knock-on effect on cadet training by preventing a cadet from reaching their ship placement to gain vital experience at sea or delaying them from returning to continue the next phase of their maritime studies.
During a webinar on Seafarers’ Welfare, hosted by the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) on behalf of Jamaica’s Ministers of Transport & Mining and Foreign Affairs & Foreign Trade, panellists heard how the rotation of cadet berths has become a victim of the Covid-19 pandemic and global travel restrictions.
Captain Devron Newman, Dean of the Faculty of Nautical Studies and Marine engineering at the Caribbean Maritime University in Jamaica, told the discussion that delays in crew changes adversely impact some cadets because they do not have the necessary documentation, such as Certificates…