Impact of special shipping across the Taiwan Straits on the employment of Taiwanese ship officers

Abstract

Nowhere else in the world are there marine transportations highly confined than across the Taiwan Straits (mainland China and Taiwan). This study strives to explore the present employment status of Taiwanese ship officers under the influence of special shipping across the Taiwan Straits, and to make sure if such an employment trend has a negative impact on the future operating mode of Taiwan shipping companies. By means of field interview and questionnaire, this study collected the employment data of ship officers from 21 leading shipping companies in Taiwan, and made a statistical analysis. The research findings show that the existing cross-strait shipping relationship, which is seriously distorted by the hostility between the governments of Taiwan and mainland China across the Taiwan Straits, has made Taiwanese shipping companies turn to flagging-out in order to enter the extensive shipping market of mainland China. This leads to a decline of job opportunities for Taiwanese ship officers. Ironically, the ship officers from mainland China pose a biggest threat to those in Taiwan in this respect. In addition, the operating modes of Taiwanese shipping companies also change gradually in tune with the increasing number of non-Taiwanese ship officers (mainly those from mainland China).