Concordia Maritime’s activities are conducted in close cooperation with several of the companies in the Stena Sphere. This gives the company access to cutting-edge competence in all areas of shipping. Like most shipping companies, Concordia Maritime can be divided into a shore-based and a seagoing organisation. Concordia Maritime’s shorebased organisation consists of only a small number of employees; in 2008 two persons were employed in the parent company.
A growing seagoing organisation
The seagoing organisation is growing as the vessels ordered enter service. The crews on the ten vessels operated in 2008 were mainly contracted via Stena-owned Northern Marine Management (NMM). Each vessel is normally manned by a crew of 24, which meant that at the end of 2008, the company had 170 seagoing employees. All shipboard employees are employed under the terms of ITF agreements (International Transport Workers’ Federation) or the Collective Bargaining Agreement for Deep Sea Trades. Personnel turnover was about 20 per cent. To retain its shipboard employees, Concordia Maritime has launched a benefits program for these employees and their families. The cost of this program during the year amounted to SEK 2.6 million, which is equivalent to SEK 12,000 per seagoing employee.
Competition for experienced seagoing personnel
Shipping is very much an international market in terms of both business and competition, but it is also an international labour market for seafarers. The supply of trained and experienced seafarers is limited. A consequence of the good market in recent years is that the demand for experienced seafarers has risen sharply, which has resulted in salaries on the world market having risen more than expected. The supply of trained and experienced seafarers is limited and is expected to shrink still further due to, among other things, the large number of seafarers retiring in the next few years but also because the number of vessels will increase sharply in the years ahead. Consequently, being able to attract the best officers and most experienced ratings is dependent on having a long-term approach and a good reputation as an employer.
Continuous competence development
In addition to comprehensive international regulations, there are also strict internal requirements and routines for ensuring safety on board. In order to ensure that Concordia Maritime’s own and its customers’ quality, environmental and safety demands are met, the company works continuously on developing competence in both the shore-based and the seagoing organisation. The training activities it provides are both general and specially adapted for a specific vessel. Northern Marine Management has well-developed routines and processes for training and education, not least in issues involving safety and the environment. The work on education during the year has, among other things, been focused on training the officers and ratings in the operation of the new ship type. The total cost of competence development during the year amounted to SEK 680,000, which is equivalent to SEK 4,000 per employee.