Asia is the largest provider of the seafarer workforce in the world, accounting for four of the top five seafarer-supplying countries. China, the second most populous country in the world, is the fourth-largest supplier of seafarers, having dispatched approximately 1.4 million seafarers over the past decade.
On 27 November, the inauguration ceremony for BSM-HMC Maritime Services (Hainan) Co., Ltd. took place in Haikou City, China. The aim of this new joint venture amongst the Schulte Group, Huayang Maritime Center Limited (Huayang) and Haikou Xinhaina Port and Shipping Technology Co., Ltd (Xinhaina) is to build a strong local network to cultivate a new generation of highly trained Chinese crew.
Together with Huayang and Xinhaina, not only will BSM, the ship management arm of the Schulte Group, be able to ensure the supply of highly trained Chinese crew to the company’s owned and managed vessels, but also enhance the competitiveness of China's seafarers in the global crew pool and provide more high-quality talent to the whole maritime industry.
According to Ian Beveridge, CEO of BSM, ship managers need to provide a career track to young people, especially in countries with favourable demographics, and where people are open to the opportunities a seagoing career can provide to tackle the global seafarer shortage. This is also especially important in light of the green transition of the shipping industry:
“At BSM, we place emphasis on the selection, development and management of seagoing employees that is key to the safe and efficient operations of the vessels of our clients. With the increasing number of dual-fuel ships on order, the time is now to adequately train Chinese crews for these high-end vessels, especially in the LNG field,” he elaborates.
BSM has maintained a close cooperation with Huayang Maritime Center for crew recruitment and manning for many years. Xinhaina was established in 2005, and mainly focuses on the field of ship technical consulting, maritime consulting, navigational engineering, and crew technical training.
