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The economic situation

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  • #1

    The economic situation

    Just lately, and especially with the OECD downgrading their forecast of European growth (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15915627), I can't help but wonder is the bottom going to fall out of shipping again? We get told that its one of the faster growing industry sectors, but surely with every sector being tied together, if the economy overall slows, the need for shipping also slows.

    I keep wondering this because I'm in quite a stable job at the moment, but I want to come to the shipping industry, but I also want to be relatively sure that it will be worth my while and I'm not just going to be sat round with a OOW ticket that I can't use because all the ships are laid up.

    Are any cadets worried that they won't get a job on qualifying? Are any qualified officers worried about their current jobs?
    "Crazy like wild wolves threatened by fire, send them all to the bottom of the sea."
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  • #2
    Well for the engineer officers and electro tech officers it should be easier to get a job shore side if shipping takes a hit. I don't think the economic problems of the west are having too great a problem on shipping though.

    There is a global demand for oil so shipping jobs in the oil sector should be ok, Latin America still have huge growth, (Australasia and Canada are doing ok too) so can afford to buy Chinese made goods so the container ship sector looks ok and so does the bulk carrier sector supplying China with raw materials.

    Of course shipping companies could use the UK and European recession as a reason to cut costs and replace British officers with cheaper alternatives but this tends to cost them more in the long term.

    Overall I'm not too worried about finding a job at the end, but I'm not sure I'd leave a stable job for it either.
    Former TH cadet with experience of cruise ships, buoy tenders, research ships and oil tankers

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    • #3
      Hmmm, well I'm not going to have a real-terms payrise until 2015 and probably no promotion until the back end of 2013, more likely to be early 2014. Swings and roundabouts, swings and roundabouts...
      "Crazy like wild wolves threatened by fire, send them all to the bottom of the sea."

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      • #4
        Its still going to be the summer of 2015 before you would be qualified as a junior officer and starting a proper salary job, it isnt easy to leave a good job for this as there will be lots of times when its hard and your thinking how much better being in a proper job would be, the cadetship money etc doesnt go far.
        you can take it with a pinch of salt, but i prefer it with a nip of whisky

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        • #5
          There is a fantastic amount of work around, and regardless of a double dip you really won't see any affects except maybe some pay freezes in the larger container companies. There is a big shortage of officers, and many of the cadets that come through the system don't stay at sea for long and end up moving ashore where there are also plenty of jobs.

          I think from my initial cadet course there are probably only 30% of the people still on ships, the rest pussied out to do 9-5 commuting jobs in the UK, boring gits.

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          • #6
            that's good to hear, can't wait to qualify - June 2013 or so
            Former TH cadet with experience of cruise ships, buoy tenders, research ships and oil tankers

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            • #7
              Originally posted by AncientMariner View Post
              There is a fantastic amount of work around, and regardless of a double dip you really won't see any affects except maybe some pay freezes in the larger container companies. There is a big shortage of officers, and many of the cadets that come through the system don't stay at sea for long and end up moving ashore where there are also plenty of jobs.

              I think from my initial cadet course there are probably only 30% of the people still on ships, the rest pussied out to do 9-5 commuting jobs in the UK, boring gits.
              Well at the moment I definately want to go all the way to master, I'm not really a 9-5 kinda guy, so thats all good news.
              "Crazy like wild wolves threatened by fire, send them all to the bottom of the sea."

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              • #8
                Originally posted by AncientMariner View Post
                moving ashore where there are also plenty of jobs.
                Fewer jobs than you would imagine these days...
                I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.....

                All posts here represent my own opinion and not that of my employer.

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