Diversification of Seafarers’ Employability Paths

Abstract

Romania’s admission following the extension of the EU and the globalization of the maritime industry exposed Romanian employees to the maritime labor market. This market is characterized by increased competition determined by technological advancement and the emerging new Asian maritime nations. These conditions were exacerbated by the increased wage expectations of the European maritime manpower. On the demand side, the maritime industry has historically been characterized by lack of marine officers, in particular of senior rank, but the current slow global economic recovery and the weak commodity demand tend to level the scorecard. These changes affected the marine global labor market and led to structural unemployment among Romanian seafarers. Considering the traditional purpose of marine universities – to prepare marine officers, and the labor market needs – marine officers highly qualified in specific fields, this paper aims at identifying the skills required by marine industry and analyzing the possibility to extend them to other positions/qualifications from the marine industry.