To The Rt Hon Heidi Alexander MP, Secretary of State for Transport

Ms Virginia McVea, Chief Executive of the MCA ,

Mr Lars Lippuner, Director of MCA Customer Maritime Services,

Ms Karrie Trauth, President of the UK Chamber of Shipping,

Mr Kevin Gregory, Director of the MNTB,

Captain Sir Ian McNaught, President of the Merchant Navy Welfare Board,

Persons of office close to British Seafarer training,

Active and retired members of the British Merchant Navy,

Parents and peers of Seafarers,

We, young Cadets and qualified Officers believe the following proposals should be taken into consideration and adopted to provide a consistent level of training across maritime sponsors, towards improving the employability, experience and motivation of the next generation of British Seafarers.   

There is an astronomical dropout rate of cadets and junior officers. Our colleagues included RNLI volunteers, RYA-certified seafarers, Sea Cadets, racing sailors and in every way passionate and brave individuals. We refuse to dismiss them as personally inadequate or somehow prompt to seasickness. Far from being taboo, dropping out shows the reward is not always worth the commitment. This is especially the case without hiring guarantees, genuine training or a protected domestic industry. To give our past and future colleagues due regard, we respectfully call on you to consider the following. 

There is a major gap between shoreside expectations and shipboard training. Completion of Training Record Book (TRB) tasks, including maintenance, drills, enclosed spaces, mooring and anchoring, and taking charge tasks, is often theoretical. We believe flexibility is warranted insofar as sponsors guarantee opportunities to achieve the required tasks at Rating (within 3-6 months of seatime) and Officer levels (within the final 6 months). Importantly, colleges should vet and endorse placements based on proper completion. Colleges should be able to charge sponsors when tasks have to be completed by other means. This will more effectively incentivise sponsors and their designated shipboard training officers (DSTOs) to provide the required practical experience. Signing off tasks in college, transferring between ships to achieve tasks, or college instructional trips on large vessels and ROPAX should be explored, without limiting the sponsor's obligations. 

Some sponsors do not take cadets with the intention to hire them afterwards. This leads to low motivation and inadequate experience "in charge" of operations. As a result, many cadets complete the program without truly being officer-ready. We believe shipboard placements should include any training required for the sponsor's officers (DPO, FRB, DSD, Crowd Management, etc. or other offshore or maritime training), along with the full expectation of an officer role on completion. This ensures cadets are officer-ready, officer-proven and fully employable.

Expensive and essential STCW training is not received at adequate checkpoints. Efficient deckhand, radio, rescue and lifeboats are often undertaken after seatime is complete. This puts cadets behind and sometimes gives ground to occasional exclusion from certain operations necessary to complete the TRB. We believe such training is necessary before the second sea phase and that it should be solely managed by the college (except cruise ship internal PSCRB training, and non-required training).

Cadets who fail or leave the program early or temporarily all do so empty-handed. We believe the officer program should include milestones where rating and intermediate tickets are achieved automatically. This means the required shore-based certificates arranged to be completed beforehand, and the relevant TRB tasks in the same timespan. DSTOs will be made aware of what milestones and tasks are expected, so that the required tasks are achieved for the intermediate tickets (Rating level, AB). Providing intermediate certificates will also help cadets better integrate  crews familiar with similar systems or provide interim job opportunities.  

Single-nationality vessels with a completely homogeneous crew are not conducive to integration, learning and fulfilment. Cadets may be excluded by the operating language (even if officially English) and social culture. Worse, they may be purposefully excluded by association with "the West" or "the office". This alienation contributes to a poor experience, poor training, high dropout rate and simply not being ready. We believe cadets should learn among or from their peers. Two cadets in the same department should be the norm unless the crew is genuinely mixed or has a British officer in the same department.

These proposals are similar to the best practices of leading sponsors, placement trusts and colleges, but they are not explicitly required. For Britain to ensure enduring maritime leadership, a high standard should be actively required. We insist these proposals are attainable, suitable and necessary for all sponsors engaged in training those who will follow us. 

We thank you for your consideration,

Young Cadets and qualified Officers