Managing Mariner Shortages in the Tugboat Industry Max

Running head: MANAGING MARINER SHORTAGES 1

Managing Mariner Shortages in the Tugboat Industry

Max Rosenberg

California Maritime Academy

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MANAGING MARINER SHORTAGES 2

Abstract

As a shortage of willing and qualified mariners grips the tugboat industry, companies are

having an increasingly difficult time filling billets on their boats. In order to rectify this

situation, tugboat companies must recognize the factors that contribute most to the shortage, and

make institutional changes to remedy those factors. Increasing license regulations and the

attraction of related industries are a couple of factors that are making it difficult to attract and

retain qualified mariners. A longstanding shortage of qualified mariners from the previous

generation and industry traditions that don’t appeal to the values of the new generation are

compounding the issue. Focusing on training that helps mariners to overcome licensing

challenges and promotes more rapid advancement will help to fill many roles. But companies

must also become more attractive to new mariners as well. Increasing exposure at academies

and vocational schools will prove invaluable. Attracting new tugboaters, though, will also

require changing an industry culture to meet with the values of a new generation. In order to

attract new mariners, companies must make changes that will be considered unorthodox in a very

traditional industry.

Keywords: mariner, shortage, tugboat, millennials, maritime, change


In the last decade, the American tugboat industry has seen a steady decline in the number

of qualified applicants to fill billets on tugboats. Qualifications have risen through both

company policies and government regulations. At the same time, fewer new mariners are

choosing a career in the tugboat industry. Maritime academy class sizes increase and more

vocational programs are developed every year. Still, companies struggle to find willing and able

tugboaters. Potential candidates are flocking to other industry segments and even other

industries as compensation and working conditions are, or at least appear more favorable to new

and seasoned mariners alike.

This is a problem that may already be directly affecting the entire maritime industry in

some of the same ways that it affects the tugboat segment. Whether deep sea, near coastal or

harbor, the American maritime industry as a whole is finding it increasingly difficult to find

qualified employees. Regardless of the direct effects however, ancillary maritime segments such

as the tugboat industry, can have far reaching effects on the maritime industry and the industries

that it serves. The availability and quality of towing services is critical to the shipping industry.

Ships, which are designed to depend on the assistance of tugboats in port, cannot fulfill their

missions without that assistance. Delays or accidents in the transport of goods drive the cost of

those goods up and a ripple outward from the country’s ports.

The quality of towing services is highly dependent on the availability of qualified, trained

personnel to operate the boats. Tugboat companies need to identify the fundamental reasons for

the exodus of employees from their industry segment if they are to maintain the viability of the

industry. Historically, the standard response to a shortage of qualified applicants has been to

lower the qualifications. This unfortunately lowers the quality of services that the company

offers, which can perpetuate or compound the problem. Changing business and operating


practices is crucial to the future attractiveness of the companies and industry as a whole. Many

of these practices are steeped in tradition, but overtime have reduced the attractiveness of jobs to

today’s mariner. Finding ways to increase compensation, training opportunities and company-

employee loyalty will be key to the future of a quality towing industry.

Literature Review

Very little research has been done on the subject of crewing shortages in the maritime

industry. Even less research has been done on the tugboat industry. Most of what has been

written generally discusses the industry as a whole, rarely focusing on the tugboat segment

specifically. The issue is mostly the subject of industry publications and blogs. Only recently

has the subject become serious enough that it has garnered the attention of Congress. Congress

is obviously concerned about the employment implications that the industry shares with all other

industries. The necessity of the Merchant Marine for supporting disaster relief and national

defense is also of great concern, though. A lot of people have speculated as to why there is a

shortage of mariners. Increased qualifications, pay and changes in culture are just a few reasons

that the industry may be struggling to attract new members. Further research will be necessary,

though, in order to better define the reasons for the shortage.

The subject of this paper assumes that there is a shortage of qualified tugboaters, and that

a solution is required. Before contemplating a solution, the question must be asked, is there a

shortage of qualified mariners? In an article on the subject, Fabey (2002) says that “Tugboat

operators have faced a shortage of qualified deckhands, according to the [Hampton Roads]

maritime association.” He goes on to interview the manager of a small East Coast tug and barge

company. “’One of the most difficult parts of running a tug-and-barge operation is finding

qualified people to crew and captain the boats,’ says Edward T. Hardison, the southern


operations manager for Buchanan Marine in Norfolk.” Any manager will agree that one of the

most difficult parts of any operation is finding and hiring the right people, a task made

exponentially more difficult if there is a shortage of qualified applicants. Flesher (2009) an

associated press writer from Michigan addresses the shortage from a Great Lakes perspective:

Long a symbol of romance and adventure, the seafaring life is attracting fewer young

adults these days, creating a worsening personnel shortage for those hauling cargo across

oceans and the Great Lakes.

Some shipping companies have told the U.S. Maritime Administration that the problem

has forced them to dock or even sell vessels. Others said it has kept them from expanding

fleets, or caused delayed voyages and lost contracts.

A cross-section of the maritime industry has been affected to varying degrees, from oil

tankers and bulk cargo haulers to tugs, barges and ferries.

As the problem worsens, the industry has tried to attract the attention of the federal government,

who should have more than a passing interest in the state of the maritime industry. In an article

for Professional Mariner, Aichele (2008) says that:

The shortage of available crewmembers has been growing for years. Employers have

responded by working closely with maritime academies, seamen’s unions and

apprenticeship programs…“It used to be that there were too few jobs and too many

people looking,” said Maritime Administrator Sean T. Connaughton. “The tide has

turned and that situation is reversed.”

The head of the Maritime Administration, the Maritime Administrator is appointed by the

President, and reports directly to the Secretary of Transportation. The Maritime Administrator is

responsible to the country for the well-being of the industry and is one of the greatest authorities


on its state. In fact, MarAd’s (2015) own website summarizes the agencies responsibility quite

well.

The Maritime Administration is also charged with maintaining the health of the merchant

marine, since commercial mariners, vessels, and intermodal facilities are vital for

supporting national security, and so the agency provides support and information for

current mariners, extensive support for educating future mariners, and programs to

educate America's young people about the vital role the maritime industry plays in the

lives of all Americans.

The implications of a mariner shortage haven’t only gotten the attention of the maritime

administration. As the shortage continues, Congress has begun to legitimize the complaints of a

struggling industry. Glass (2007) says:

The nagging maritime labor shortage is starting to grab the attention of Congress, which

has mostly watched from the sidelines as the industry struggles to address a shortage that

some say is reaching crisis proportions.

Lawmakers are currently assessing the scope and reasons behind the manning shortage

and are considering what actions Washington can take to help ease the crunch.

And although the answer seems to still escape the lawmakers and industry representatives alike,

Congress has made efforts to shed more light on the subject. In his article, Tyler (2007)

summarizes a congressional hearing with Dale Sause, president of a large and well established

West Coast tugboat company:

The towing industry "is facing a critical shortage of vessel personnel," said Dale Sause,

president of Sause Brothers, in congressional testimony last year. "We are having

difficulty in finding an adequate number of licensed individuals necessary to crew our


vessels. We are having difficulty in attracting new people to the industry and convincing

those who do begin employment aboard vessels to make their career on the water."

Turnover at the entry-level is over 50 percent, Sause said.

Industry representatives and government representatives now both recognize that there is

a shortage of mariners, and tugboat companies seem to be suffering as much or worse than their

fellow industry segments. The next step to turning the shortage around is to determine what is

causing the shortage to begin with. Glass (2007) supposes that:

Reasons for the manning problems are many: an aging workforce in which the most

experienced workers are facing retirement; construction of new, more sophisticated boats,

especially in the LNG and offshore sectors, that will require thousands of new mariners

over the next five years; uncertainty over new federal rules on medical fitness that could

disqualify some mariners while discouraging others to seek onboard jobs; new standards

under the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and

Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) that will impose costly and time-consuming training

requirements on mariners; lower wages than shore jobs and longer periods away from

home; and an unfriendly post-9/11 environment that has painted mariners as security

risks.

Many point the finger at increased qualification requirements. Even mariners on smaller vessels

with limited routes are required to meet ever-increasing certificate requirements. These come

with significant upfront and recurring education requirements. Some of these requirements have

been imposed by regulation, but some have been imposed by the companies themselves. With

ISO certifications and safety management systems found throughout the industry, tugboat

companies have set much higher standards. In a highly competitive industry, companies want to


show that they have the most qualified mariners. These increasing requirements may be making

it difficult to maintain a qualified workforce though.

Tyler (2007) says:

New training programs are being created to meet the chronic shortage of qualified

individuals for the tug and towing industry and to help unlicensed mariners become

officers…These new programs are all responding to an industry-wide shortage of

qualified officers and entry-level mariners.

Reactive rather than proactive, training programs developed in response to the increasing

requirements may have been developed too late to prevent the shortage. Glass (2007) says:

Although there is a large pool of highly trained licensed and unlicensed mariners, all

sectors of the industry - towing, passenger, offshore, LNG - are reporting a shortage of

mariners who are qualified or willing to work. Mariners are retiring or leaving the

workforce at a rapid clip due in part to the increasing costs to upgrade or advance their

qualifications.

Tyler (2007) expands on this by pointing out that the problem isn’t only at the top of the ranks,

but in the path that mariners get there:

In the past, officer vacancies would be filled by crewmembers moving up from the ranks,

a route known as "coming up the hawsepipe."

With the advent of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification

and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) and other requirements, it has become

extremely difficult for mariners to come up the hawsepipe because of the formal

classroom time and money needed for training.


Another issue may be that at the same time the number of qualified mariners is shrinking, the

number of openings is growing. The maritime industry is very closely tied to the oil industry.

Expansion in the oil industry has caused an increase in the number of mariners required to crew

boats, especially in the states that line the Gulf Coast and Western Rivers. Wollenhaupt (2012)

states that:

In fact the U.S. Department of Labor predicts the number of jobs in water transportation

will grow 20 percent between 2010 and 2020, faster than the average occupation. Help-

wanted billboards dot the highways along the Gulf Coast to recruit applicants to work on

the boats supporting the offshore drilling industry.

There are many other reasons that the tugboat industry is suffering from a shortage of mariners.

More attractive pay in rapidly expanding related industry segments is one. With the increase in

qualification requirements, academies are where many of today’s entry-level mariners are

meeting those requirements. In the past, the country’s maritime academies have done a poor job

of promoting smaller workboat segments of the industry as viable employment opportunities.

Glass (2014) talks about these and more of the reasons for the continued shortage:

There are many reasons for the tight labor market. The growing offshore energy sector

has wooed many away from the towing vessel industry with higher wages. There’s been a

high turnover in entry level positions, which creates a gap when older workers retire.

Hiring is hampered by a lack of knowledge about opportunities in the inland sector,

especially among younger people and those leaving the military. And state and federal

maritime academies, traditionally a good source of licensed officers for bluewater

vessels, have just recently begun to add brownwater courses and encourage their licensed

officer graduates to consider careers on tugs and towboats.


The tugboat industry may also be suffering from some of the same ailments that every industry

faces everyday. The tugboat industry is, after all, just another industry in which people seek

employment. In his article, Shah (2014) lists 10 reasons your top talent will leave you:

1. You Failed To Unleash Their Passions

2. You Failed To Challenge Their Intellect

3. You Failed To Engage Their Creativity

4. You Failed To Develop Their Skills

5. You Failed To Give Them A Voice

6. You Failed To Care

7. You Failed to Lead

8. You Failed To Recognize Their Contributions

9. You Failed To Increase Their Responsibility

10. You Failed To Keep Your Commitments

Tugboats have historically been a place where tough men meet the sea. Tugboaters toughen up,

work hard and sometimes live in less than desirable conditions. The maritime industry

traditionally also has a very structured chain of command. Today’s tugboat companies are

changing. They aren’t the same, and today’s mariners may not be either. The new generation of

workers has different expectations from their employers. Companies, maritime and otherwise,

used to promote loyalty through culture and forms of compensation such as pensions and

options. Today’s employees are looking for a different kind of relationship with their companies

and bosses. Employees want to be part of the team. They want to contribute and evolve with the

company, but life-work balance is a priority. Petro (2014) says:

Gen Y values fun, freedom, friends and family. They want a say whether that be input or


feedback. Unlike other generations who might have hoped for happiness, they expect it.

They desire different experiences, stimulation and authenticity. They embrace diversity

and see through race, religion and sexual orientation as barriers. Isn’t that beautiful? To

optimize messaging, maximize relationships and uniqueness.

Mariners of Generation Y don’t fit well into traditional tugboat company structure. Bienati

(2014) says about “Generation Y: It is 5 p.m. I have another life to get to. Job = Gig.” Gen Ys

want to be a benefit to the company, but they also want input, something that has traditionally

been reserved for the captain in the maritime industry. The maritime industry may be having a

hard time attracting young mariners because the industry just isn’t culturally attractive to the

newer generation.

Because there is not a lot of definitive research on the subject of mariner shortages in the

tugboat industry, in order to make an assessment of the reasons behind the shortage, some

research will need to be completed. Two fundamental reasons exist for the shortage. Either too

many people are leaving, or not enough people are entering the industry to offset normal

attrition. Operations managers who are responsible for crewing their vessels should have a lot of

insight into both why employees are leaving and what they are doing to attract new mariners.

Interviews with senior operations managers at tugboat companies could reveal a lot about the

current shortage. Asking the right questions is the key to getting the best information out of any

interview. Driscoll & Brizee (2010) suggest that:

Interviewing is a great way to learn detailed information from a single individual or small

number of individuals. It is very useful when you want to gain expert opinions on the

subject or talk to someone knowledgeable about a topic.


Do pay attention to what is being said during the interview and follow up responses

that sound interesting.

Do come to the interview prepared. You should learn as much as you can about the

person you are going to interview before the interview takes place so that you can tailor

your questions to them.

Don't stick to your questions rigidly. If an interesting subject comes up that relates to

your research, feel free to ask additional questions about it.

They also offer some advice on things to avoid when formulating good interview questions:

Biased questions are questions that encourage your participants to respond to the question

in a certain way. They may contain biased terminology or are worded in a biased way…

Make sure your questions are not confusing or wordy. Confusing questions will only lead

to confused participants, which leads to unreliable answers…Be sure that your questions

directly relate to what it is you are studying. A good way to do this is to ask someone else

to read your questions or even test your survey out on a few people and see if the

responses fit what you are looking for.

Another type of research that could prove invaluable is a survey of those poised to enter the

industry. A survey of seniors graduating from a maritime academy could determine how today’s

new mariners are choosing their careers. Glass (2014) talks about a “lack of knowledge about

opportunities in the inland sector.” It is possible that students graduating from the maritime

academies don’t know about the opportunities in the tugboat industry. It is also possible that

they do, but have reasons to go to other industries. A survey would reveal a lot about how the

industry is viewed by young mariners. Designing a survey can be more challenging than an

interview, though. A survey can’t evolve as the participant answers questions, so the author of


the survey must consider everything that must be addressed. Trochim (2006) suggests that for

each question the following be considered:

Is the Question Necessary/Useful?

Are Several Questions Needed?

Do Respondents Have the Needed Information?

Does the Question Need to be More Specific?

Is Question Sufficiently General?

Is Question Biased or Loaded?

Will Respondent Answer Truthfully?

In a presentation for the student research department at UCSD, Armstrong (2009) makes some

suggestions on how to get the best information from your survey subjects:

Clearly state your intentions with the research

-Many people are hesitant to answer questions about themselves and their opinions.

-Respondents will probably be more willing to help if you clearly state your intentions

-At the top of your survey, include a brief statement explaining why you are collecting

the information and reassure each respondent that the information is confidential (if not

anonymous)

Don't ask for personal information unless you need it

Personal or demographic information (age, race, income level, etc...) may irritate

some respondents and prevent them from completing your survey questionnaire


However, in many instances, this information is necessary for the research. If you

need to ask for this type of information it is best to place the questions at the END of

your survey questionnaire

While not a lot of research has been done, the subject of crewing shortages in the tugboat

industry is starting to attract more attention. The longer the condition persists, the greater an

issue it becomes. By combining the existing research and theories on the subject with current

primary research, it should be possible to ascertain the reasons for the shortage. Armed with that

information, the author intends to make recommendations that will assist tugboat companies in

retaining and attracting mariners to a long-term career in the tugboat industry.

The Shortages and The Solutions

Most organizations recognize that employees are one of their most valuable resources.

Very few businesses can operate without people to fulfill the operational goals of the

organization. Tugboat companies are no exception. Along with a myriad shoreside staff,

tugboat companies require qualified and willing mariners to fill the shipboard billets necessitated

both by regulation and operational requirements. Those billets have proven harder to fill in

recent years. As older mariners retire, tugboat companies have had an increasingly difficult time

filling their job openings. Licensing requirements of late have increased significantly and

promise to increase further. With the adoption of the Manila Convention, maintaining the

license necessary to be a qualified mariner is proving to be more difficult, time-consuming and

expensive. With new inspected tugboat regulations looming on the horizon, it is likely that the

number and size of licenses required to operate a tugboat will increase. As licensing

requirements increase, fewer mariners are working their way up through the ranks without


spending time at an academy or vocational school. At the same time that it is becoming

increasingly difficult to become and remain a qualified applicant, quality mariners must be

willing as well. The towing industry is very competitive, and hence extremely cost sensitive.

More cyclical industry segments, particularly those directly related to the oil industry, entice

mariners with high daily rates of pay. Tugboat companies often offer greater stability and good

benefits, but have a difficult time competing with rates of pay that are attractive, particularly to

younger mariners who have different values. And, for several reasons, mariners of differing ages

have differing values. Younger mariners tend not to value medical and retirement benefits as

much as older mariners do. It makes them more easily attracted with wages alone and more

difficult to attract while balancing the needs of more seasoned employees. More significant

though may be the generational differences. From generation to generation, what workers value

the most changes. The new generation of mariners expects to have a different relationship with

work and their employers. Younger mariners don’t fit into the same structure that has been

traditional in the maritime industry for years. As newer mariners join the workforce, and older

mariners approach retirement, the differences will be exaggerated by a lack of mariners between.

A surplus of mariners in the 1980s and 1990s caused a lot of potential mariners to move to other

industries. As the industry recovered, this left a gap or missing generation in the continuity of

professional mariners. Collectively, these circumstances have led to a shortage of mariners

willing and able to fill vacant billets in the towing industry. Tugboat companies need to

strategize and evolve in order to retain the current workforce and attract the next generation of

tugboaters.

License Maintenance


It is hard to quantify whether or not getting an original license is more difficult than it

was in years past. STCW requirements have increased, but mariners who enter the industry

through an academy or licensing school benefit from the same resources that schools have long

employed to help students navigate the licensing process. Therefore, the process may be no

more difficult to the student. Advances in vessel technology among them, many circumstances

surrounding the operation of modern tugboats have led to smaller crews. In general, smaller

crews means fewer entry level positions, so there are higher barriers. Fewer entry level

positions, along with more significant educational components required to qualify for a license,

mean it is more difficult to come up through the hawsepipe. The “hawsepipe” is the hole in a

boat through which the anchor chain is lowered, and is also industry slang for working your way

up through the ranks without attending an academy. Many tugboat companies however have

already developed programs to combat the more recent challenges of transitioning from

unlicensed to licensed mariner. Partnerships between companies and maritime vocational

schools allow the schools to offer the educational requirements while companies offer their more

motivated employees the practical training and experience required to become licensed.

Therefore, most prospective mariners have available to them resources that offset the additional

challenges of getting a license today. It is, however, indisputable that it is significantly more

difficult to maintain a license than it used to be. Scott Hoggarth, Vice President of Ship Assist

and Escort Services at Crowley:

Started recognizing the problem 4-5 years ago. It started when we had a group of senior

captains that were starting to retire. As requirements were stepped up, some guys didn’t

want to hassle with the extra headaches of any additional training that might have to take


place. So we saw that there was a shortage because of that. (personal communication,

February 24th

, 2015).

Many more senior tugboaters are weighing the cost-benefit of the hassle of the license renewal

process. Some are choosing to retire a couple years early to avoid that hassle. Other mariners

have even been forced into early retirement by the increasing regulation. Bob Gregory, Foss

Maritime Regional Operations Manager San Francisco notes:

Part of what’s created a gap recently is the new medical requirements have definitely

caused people to go out earlier. So that’s one thing on the regulatory side that’s created

jobs because people didn’t pass medical that used to be more lax. And then the

requirements for keeping it up, you have to be fairly studious to figure out exactly what

you need to keep your license up to date, and on top of things all the time, not just every

5 years. (personal communication, March 16th

, 2015).

Tugboat companies hoping to retain their currently qualified mariners need to help them learn to

prepare to renew their licenses. As Mr. Gregory alludes to, a licensed mariner’s next renewal

process begins almost immediately following his or her last issue. Many milestones must be met

throughout the license period in order to qualify for a renewal. Similar to the Coast Guard

license checklists, companies should develop renewal checklists and calendars that help

employees track their license milestones. Checklists should be tailored to the particular licenses

held by most company employees. Vessel size and routes should be considered because of their

effect on sea service. One of the challenges for tugboaters is that more of this type of

information is available for those with unlimited ocean going licenses, but there is less clarity

surrounding the requirements for other licenses and certificates. The expense of one

administrative employee’s efforts developing and maintaining such material could help to


support hundreds of marine employees in a larger company. Further still, larger companies with

advanced resource planning tools could even automate the checklists creating electronic

reminders for employees that are approaching critical stages in their timeline. Many tugboat

companies have been very generous in providing company sponsored training that meets a

majority of the educational milestones associated with STCW requirements. Employees that

understand the extent of the educational requirements are grateful, but often unclear on what

requirements are being met by the company’s training and which are not. Hence, companies

should add mariner document maintenance modules to annual trainings that provide information

about the requirements, the assistance the company is providing and a forum for employees to

learn and pose specific questions.

Broadening Exposure

While providing training to assist mariners in making the transition from unlicensed

positions to licensed positions is fairly commonplace at most larger tugboat companies,

opportunities are limited and are generally only available to current highly motivated employees.

A lack of entry level positions makes it difficult to get a foothold in the industry to begin. This

leads to fewer mariners coming up through the hawsepipe, and places greater significance on

attracting mariners from academies and vocational schools. Bob Gregory is curious about:

The number of people that came from the academies in the past… I’d be interested to see

if the portion going to tugs has really changed in the last 10 years…if anything I think it

might have increased. So if the academy source isn’t what’s dried up…then it’s either

the gap created by people retiring that’s just created more demand because we haven’t

supplied any in the last 10 years and we’re seeing that, or a combination between that and


the fact that less people are coming into the industry from the ground up. (personal

communication, March 16th

, 2015).

Tugboat companies need to increase their exposure at maritime academies and vocational

schools so that the portion of graduates going to tugs definitely goes up. Exposure at schools

means more than just showing at annual career fairs though. Students are drawn to companies

that are prepared to discuss job openings. Nothing is more discouraging to students preparing to

enter the workforce than visiting career fairs full of companies who have no openings, or

continually direct them to the union hiring halls. Even companies that employ only union labor

need to be prepared to discuss their openings and growth opportunities when students arrive at

their table.

Real exposure though, goes much deeper than career fairs. Students spend their whole

school careers learning about the opportunities that they will have when they enter the work

force. They learn about companies because they see them providing services for the training

ships. Many students return to the companies that they do their internships with, or learn from

fellow students who had good internship experiences. Students sit next to company executives at

industry dinners and benefit from scholarships sponsored by companies. Students are influenced

by learning about the experiences of their teachers and the companies that they worked for.

Students also value the opinions of their contemporaries, learning from the experiences of recent

graduates. Companies have ample opportunities to expose students to their particular brand of

employment, but diversified exposure is the key to assuring that students consider any particular

company or industry segment. Companies need to re-envision how they use these opportunities.

Use young recent graduates to represent the company at career fairs and industry dinners.

Rather than only sending human resources and hiring managers, send employees who are in or


recently held the positions that new graduates would qualify for. Students will relate to their

contemporaries and value their experiences in their new careers. Employees who are recent

graduates also demonstrate that the company is a viable employer who is actively hiring from the

school’s talent pool. Sponsor school programs in ways that expose the company to large

numbers of students. Scholarships are very important to the individuals that they assist and

provide good exposure in company and alumni magazines, but don’t offer exposure to a large

number of students. Buying equipment for schools or sponsoring a building, project or event on

an academy campus is a great way to get your company’s name in front of the students.

Recent graduates can probably tell you the work history of many of their favorite

teachers. While students are learning their trade, they are also learning about the opportunities

that will be available to them when finishing school. And who better to learn from than their

teachers? Upon graduating, a vast majority of what students know about different companies

and industry segments is based on the experiences of their faculty. A student whose instructors

always told stories about their great experiences sailing on coastal product tankers, is at least

likely to inquire with companies sailing product tankers. Companies should partner with

schools, both academies and vocational schools, to provide faculty for their programs. Maritime

schools are always seeking faculty with modern professional experience, and companies are

seeking exposure with potential employees. Many very skilled professionals aren’t ready to

leave their careers to go teach, but would welcome the opportunity to teach part time, or for a

session at a time. Companies, schools and employees would benefit if the company saw fit to

subsidize the cost of instructors by maintaining their benefits or subsidizing their pay in order to

represent the company at the institution.


Tugboat companies can also offer extracurricular training opportunities for students.

Many maritime companies participate in academy and vocational school internship programs.

Tugboat companies may be a good fit for some workboat and vocational programs, but may not

be able to meet the requirements of academy internships. Some tugboats may not be able to

commit the berthing space to a student for a long enough period. They may also not meet the

tonnage or horsepower requirements for the sea time that students need to qualify for their

license. Students are, however, often seeking sea time towards a towing endorsement, or

additional time or experience required for a dangerous liquids endorsement. Students may also

just welcome the opportunity to explore the industry. While companies are generally very open

to supporting students in these opportunities, the students often don’t know who to contact.

Companies would gain exposure and favor with students by advertising these training

opportunities on academy campuses.

Competing with Other Industries

Tugboating is a very cost sensitive segment of the maritime industry. Competition is

heavy and that leads to lower rates. Rate competitiveness coupled with a race to build more

advanced equipment keeps margins narrow. Shawn Bennett, General Manager, BayDelta

Maritime, thinks:

A lot of it is pressure from the customers to build bigger and better tugs… But we really

haven’t seen at this point the rates go up, so the margins are definitely thinner, there’s no

question about it. A lot of that’s being driven from competition; there’s a lot of tugboat

companies in the bay and on the coast. (personal communication, March 6th

, 2015).

Narrow margins mean that tugboat companies can’t offer the same financial incentives that some

other industry segments can to attract new mariners. The tugboat industry isn’t as cyclical as


some of those other industries. Lately, the tugboat industry has been competing with the

offshore oil industry for mariners. Mariners are attracted to the high rates of pay that the

industry can offer when the oil industry is booming. Tugboat companies can offer much greater

stability though. Bob Gregory notes that:

When the gulf was running we were getting concerned about what we were going to have

to pay engineers, because they were getting sucked up into the gulf at high daily rates of

pay. Now some of those guys who went for the money and got laid off because the work

dried up, the steady employment at a major tugboat company that wasn’t influenced by

offshore work like that is looking pretty good. (personal communication, March 16th

,

2015).

Tugboat companies can benefit by helping new mariners realize what many more experienced

tugboaters have already realized. Stable employment and solid benefits can be more valuable in

the long run than high daily rates of pay. Shawn Bennett saw that:

The guys who have a little bit longer-term perspective, already have a family going said

‘No way am I leaving my position open here, because all that stuff down there could be

more temporary.’… They could have gone and made a few extra bucks in the gulf, but

they realized that they’re doing well here, … and they would prefer not to risk not having

anything to come back to. (personal communication, March 6th

, 2015).

Companies that offer regular schedules and reliable work should emphasize that when seeking

new employees. To prudent employees, job descriptions and pay rates might not be the most

attractive things about a good job.

Tugboat companies could also compete with higher wages by offering flexible

compensation packages that allow employees to make more choices about how they direct their


funds. The total cost of employment is far greater than wages, and mariners might be happier to

choose whether to direct some of those funds to benefits, pension programs or their pocket.

Younger mariners who place less value on benefits and retirement programs might choose to

take home more of their pay. Multiple income families might not require multiple medical

benefit packages and would prefer to supplement their income rather than double up on benefits.

Not nearly enough emphasis is ever placed on the total compensation package when

employees are comparing potential jobs. Helping prospective employees to understand the

stability and total compensation of a job in tugboating will help to make the industry more

attractive.

The Next Generation of Mariners

New generations of workers, tugboaters included, are looking for a different working

relationship than generations past. Attracting new employees means being attractive to

Generation Y. The most populous generation in the U.S., Generation Y is now more commonly

referred to as the Millennials because early members began joining the workforce in the new

millennium. Born between 1980 and 2000, Millennials are the first generation to grow up

surrounded by technology. Always connected, more than eighty percent of Millennials claim to

regularly sleep with a cell phone by their bed. That means that gone are the days of putting

sailors on boats, allowing them to catch up with their friends and family upon their return. Work

is not the highest priority in Millennials’ lives either, and this is the first of the living generations

not to cite a “strong work ethic” as something that makes their generation distinctive. That’s not

to say that the new generation of mariners won’t make loyal employees, they just value a good

work-life balance. So far, Millennials are staying with their early career employers longer than

previous generations did. Comfortable with computers and technology, Millennials will also be


pivotal in the adoption and maintenance of higher technology systems both in equipment and

administration. Adopting newer technologies will attract Millennials that feel that their skill and

comfort with those technologies will allow them to contribute. Because Millennials are younger

and make up more of the U.S. population than any other generation, they are also soon to make

up a larger percentage of the U.S. workforce. Attracting Millennials to tugboats is critical to the

future of the industry. The industry, though, is steeped in tradition and a structure that doesn’t

necessarily fit with the values of the new generation.

Millennials will be looking for more defined schedules than have been common for entry

level and even some experienced tugboaters. Traditionally new mariners have to work for some

years before they are eligible for a regular, equal time schedule that allows them to balance their

lives with their work. In contrast to “day boating” or “call out” type work, offering a more

defined schedule may be required to attract new mariners. In some segments it may be a better

model anyway. Scott Hoggarth says:

We always favor having the crews there 24/7… the whole idea I think with day boating is

that you save money, but I don’t see it. If you’re going to crew twice a day with two

people why not just put four on for the whole day. Then you’re ready for anything, ready

for emergencies. You’ve got your full complement all the time. I don’t believe that

they’re saving any money with that crewing scheme. (personal communication, February

24th

, 2015).

Connectivity is crucial to that work life balance as well. Advances in technology have

created many options for tugboat companies to offer their employees ways to stay connected.

Satellite TV is becoming fairly commonplace on most ships, and has even found its way on to

many tugboats, but mariners are looking for ways to maintain two way communication with


family and friends. Providing Internet capability on a harbor tug is as simple as adding a

network card to a home router, but tugboat companies need to provide this kind of capability to

mariners on longer voyages as well. Being able to keep abreast of email and social networking

falls just above the physiological in some Millennials’ hierarchy of needs. A combination of

wireless and satellite technologies should be utilized to provide mariners with a conduit to the

outside world.

A greater challenge for the maritime industries, Millennials are less inclined to join an

industry with such a strict chain of command. Millennials are more interested in being part of a

team and having input in the workplace. They prefer “mentors” to “bosses” and in general, they

feel an entitlement to training and opportunities to grow. Tugboat companies need to create a

culture in which junior mariners have an opportunity to provide input to the process rather than

just being a cog in the machine. While an underlying need for Master’s Authority prevents the

structure of a tugboat from being a full democracy, Millennial Mariners want to know that they

have a say. Training can be a particularly successful forum for such a thing. Millennials are

attracted to training when they know it is practical and will help them grow professionally. Just

the same, training forums are also a great place to allow employees to provide input into how

they think that operations can be improved. Input needs to be linked to improvements, though,

and the culture developed in training scenarios needs to be adhered to on the vessels. Asking

employees to fill out company surveys and compile near-miss reporting is only successful if

employees ultimately see a correlation between their input and changes. The changes also need

to be not only in the form of rules and new company policies, but in the form of bona fide

operational improvements. Over time, if tugboat companies stand behind a cultural change that

does not adhere so rigidly to the traditional chain of command, new mariners will be attracted to


a segment where they can contribute as part of a team and may choose tugboating over other

industry segments that continue to adhere to a more rigid command structure.

Spanning the Gap

The 1980s were a difficult time for upcoming mariners. The economic climate at the

time meant that there was a surplus of potential mariners that lasted over a decade. Many people

that might otherwise have entered the industry did not. Potential mariners who had considered

attending maritime academies or seeking work as a wiper or ordinary, found jobs in other

industries because available positions were so few and far between. In the tugboat segment

specifically, the low rate of hiring lasted even into the new millennium. Bob Gregory notes that:

In some positions we haven’t hired a lot until the last five, and that was when the older

ones have retired. So we didn’t have a lot of opportunities for 10 years there. So I think

there’s a gap between the 30 and the 50 year old age. (personal communication, March

16th

, 2015).

In an employers’ market, so to speak, many companies throughout the industry reduced pay,

benefits and working conditions because employees were so abundant. Shawn Bennett recounts

a story about his own choices:

I was going to go to Cal Maritime, I was focused on that in high school. I had a very

good friend at the time that was a Captain of a ARCO/BP tanker. I graduated from High

School in ’86. Instead of signing up and applying for and going to Cal Maritime, I

didn’t… The reason I didn’t go was because his situation changed completely… and he

quit and said ‘this is no longer a good job’… It must have been that the company at the

time felt like they had the leverage and the ability and the surplus of guys. (personal


, 2015).


The industry is feeling the effects of that period now. Almost a whole generation of potential

mariners never found their way into the industry. As the industry recovered and companies

began looking to expand their work force, there weren’t as many applicants ready to sign up.

Those that never went to sea were far enough down a different career path that they were no

longer interested in the maritime industry. Those that left the industry probably no longer met

the qualifications to come back at a comparable rate. Bob Gregory thinks that: “…most of those

people aren’t going to come back because…they didn’t have the time to keep their license

current. Either that or they didn’t want to spend the money to keep it current.” (personal


, 2015). All of this has left a large gap in the continuity of

professional mariners. Even with new mariners joining up, as older mariners retire, there isn’t a

good pool of middle-aged sailors ready to move up and take the senior positions. There are a

couple of ways that tugboat companies can weather the proverbial storm. Assuming that

companies are finding ways to attract new mariners to their ranks, it is only a matter of time

before this problem no longer affects the industry. Eventually younger mariners will move up

the ranks and be prepared to take the positions of retiring mariners. In the meantime, tugboat

companies will have to fill the gap by trying to incentivize older mariners to extend their careers.

As well, they will have to attract any qualified mariners they can from other industry segments to

tide them over. A more proactive approach is to accelerate the advancement of younger mariners

coming up in the industry. A running theme in warding off the mariner shortage as a whole,

tugboat companies should offer training that would help new mariners gain experience and

advance their licenses more quickly. Many companies are willing to pay for at least a portion of

tuition expenses that employees incur in maintaining or upgrading their license, but travel and

time off are usually at the expense of the mariner. Tugboat companies might shy away from


investing too heavily in the cost of training mariners for fear of losing their investment if

employees choose to seek other employment. Tugboat companies might take a lesson from other

industries where it is common for companies to offer tuition assistance in return for a guarantee

of extended employment. In order to avoid issues of indentured servitude, companies could pay

for education-related expenses in exchange for a specified number of years of employment in the

position for which the mariner trained. Each period of employment would effectively buy down

a portion of the debt until the contract was fulfilled or the mariner chose to leave the company.

If the mariner chose to leave the company, a payment plan would be arranged for repayment of

the remaining debt. Employees would know going into the arrangement how much they would

be required to repay and when. Employees and companies would benefit together by the

training, and the program would incentivize employees not to leave. Training opportunities

would help companies to find some of their best, brightest and long-term employees and is a

much less passive approach as compared to waiting out the gap.

In Summary

A shortage of mariners continues to grip the tugboat industry. Companies will have to

modify recruitment and retention strategies alike in order to increase their employee pool. Part

of any model retention program includes promoting career advancement in order to ward off

natural attrition. Training is an underlying theme in fighting the mariner shortage. As licensing

requirements increase and become more complicated, offering training that will help mariners

maintain and upgrade their licenses will assure that companies build loyalty with employees and

continue to have licensed mariners in their ranks. Training and tuition assistance that help to

promote advancement will also help span the gap of mariners left by early retirements and a poor

economic climate in the 1980s and 1990s. Companies need to resist the urge to continue


practices that are proving less successful with the up-and-coming young mariners. Embracing

the values of the new generation of employees will assure the attractiveness of the industry to

those required to fill current and future billets. Subsidizing programs that create increased

exposure with prospective employees assures the industry’s continued favor amongst the next

crop of students. Similar to altering any chronic environmental condition, companies need to be

open to modifying ideological traditions and investing in less conventional areas in order to

overcome the continual shortage of qualified and willing mariners.

Summary

The most significant takeaway from these research efforts is that companies need to be

open to continual evolution and improvement of techniques in order for their efforts to remain

relevant. Environments and participants change, and so will the techniques that companies use

in order to be viable employers. Offering more flexible compensation plans and expanding

training programs allows companies to create a more custom experience for employees.

Continually re-evaluating working environment factors such as scheduling and cultural

command structure allows companies to remain in-tune with values of prospective employees.

Several challenges were met during the course of this project. As mentioned in the

literature review, there has not been an incredible amount published on the subject of personnel

shortages in the maritime industry. Almost none of what has been written discusses the tugboat

industry specifically. Because it was hypothesized that other industry segments were adversely

affecting the tugboat segment, prior research done on the entire industry was not always relevant

to the specific subject of this paper. In addition, many of the articles on the subject are industry

publications and blogs that are not incredibly academic in nature. What was discovered,

however, is that this author is not alone in researching the mariner shortage. Many companies


and professional organizations are concerning themselves with the subject as well. So, while

there is not a lot of information on the specific subject of this paper, there is a lot of related

material that can be found on similar subjects, such as the relation between the maritime industry

and the millennial generation, which was quite relevant. Because of the limitations of published

work, the intention was to supplement the literary research with a substantial primary research

effort. Considering the time constraints of the project, from the many primary research

possibilities, two goals were set that were expected to be most fruitful. Senior managers at three

tugboat companies were interviewed about their opinions and experience as they relate to the

mariner shortage. These interviews proved to be very enlightening. Several of the responses

were expected, but others brought up significantly different perspectives than expected. The

second primary research goal was to survey the graduating class at the California Maritime

Academy regarding their decisions and reasoning surrounding employment following

graduation. The plan was to try to understand why young mariners are choosing to join one

segment of the industry over another. Unfortunately, the process for implementing and

distributing a survey of this nature was more cumbersome than expected. The process took

much longer than hoped and ultimately proved reasonably unfruitful. Only seven survey

responses were collected. With the knowledge gained from that experience, a future endeavor

could be incredibly more successful. In addition, in order to further increase the response and

value of the data, the survey could be distributed to other maritime academies. By expanding the

distribution of the survey, it would not only increase the response, but also the demographic.

CMA is the only West Coast academy, so distributing at other academies would solicit an East &

Gulf coast perspective as well. In the same vane, a future expansion of the project might include

management interviews that reached out to a broader variety of companies. The three managers


that were interviewed represented companies that had many similarities. All three companies do

similar types of work and cover similar geographic areas. Future interviews could try to better

represent different sub-sets of the towing industry and different regions as well. Another

research effort that was considered, although proved to be too expansive for the scope of this

project, was to interview or survey people who had left the industry segment, or maritime

industry altogether. This would hopefully provide greater insight into retention efforts that

tugboat companies should be focusing on. Not being privy to employment records would mean

that a significant amount of effort would first have to be put towards finding a large enough

group of respondents.

Even with all of these additional efforts, it would be difficult to measure the success of

any of the recommendations made throughout this paper. It is reasonable to assume though, that

a company would want to gauge the return on any investments made towards recruitment and

retention. To that end, a survey could be dispensed periodically to employees that would ask

questions similar to those made in this research. Company employees could express what it was

that initially attracted them to come to work at that company, and what has kept them there.

Likewise, contrasting surveys could be made to any prospective employee that turned down an

offer, and similar questions could be added to exit interviews for employees pursuing new

opportunities. Answers would allow the company to see which efforts were proving to be most

valuable. These surveys might also shed light on recruitment and retention ideas that had not

already been considered.

Of course all of these perspectives come with a time limit. Over time, economic, political

and social influences will change the climate such that many of the conclusions made here will

no longer hold true. The tugboat industry will change and so will the related industries discussed


here. New regulations will come, and old ones will go. The next generation of mariners will

have a new set of values that will differ from those coming up now. All these changes will

necessitate new research, but the concepts will stay the same, companies will have to remain

flexible and evolve with their environment, because the only constant is change.


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