The Shipping and Ports Authority, which suffers from a severe shortage of skilled labor, saw the potential of Diaspora Jews two years ago, and it has just completed an 18-month training course for ten Russian Jews.
Shipping and Ports Authority director general Captain Yigal Maor said that the course for chief engineers and junior merchant marine officers was held at the Acre Nautical College, and that the graduates are now taking positions on ships. He said that, on the basis of the course's success, the Authority is planning to open another training course for Diaspora Jews.
"All of the course's graduates have immigrated to Israel and enjoy immigrants' benefits," Maor told "Globes". "They immigrated after they were promised training, a profession, and work, and there is new blood in our merchant marine, which for a long time suffered from a severe shortage of skilled manpower."
Maor estimates that Israeli merchant ships suffer from a shortage of hundreds of skilled workers. "The job is unappealing, like many technological professions in Israel, and the shortage is felt. We found ourselves relying on foreign workers, when we wanted as many Israeli mariners as possible, and not just for reasons of Zionism. We've learned that in wartime, foreign mariners are afraid to anchor in Israel. During the Second Lebanon War, I was going from ship to ship to calm down the foreign crews," he said. He added that the Shipping and Ports Authority was planning to shortly open a second certification course to train 12 Russian Jews in a range skills needed by the merchant marine.
The Shipping and Ports Authority admits to the many difficulties in hiring Israelis for the merchant marine. It offers training courses at job fairs and to discharged soldiers, but receives only a few dozen applicants a year. The starting pay of a new mariner is not tempting. A new merchant marine officer earns NIS 7,000-8,000 a month, and the frequent voyages, which can last for months at a time, and loneliness, deter applicants.
"It's like living in a floating prison, so the difficulty is understandable. You need a special character for this," says Maor. "Out of 100 people who express interest at a jobs fair, maybe 60 are more serious, but only 30 pass the medical tests, and 15 pass the acceptance tests to start the lengthy course. The dropout rate is high, because of the hardship, and only a few applicants finish the course. The solution to bring Diaspora Jews, who are willing to do this work and immigrate, is working fine for now."
Last Thursday, 30 manufacturers, mostly from the metals industry, were presented with a program of the Manufacturers Association of Israel to bring Jews from Russia and South America under the Law of Return to fill the ranks of skilled labor at companies. Program organizer Itzik Reitman told "Globes" that bringing Diaspora Jews was a temporary solution to the manpower shortage in industry. He said that the solution to the problem was to expand job training courses to meet the industry and economy's up-to-date needs.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 3, 2013
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