Spelling Out the Maritime Manpower Solution: S.O.C.P.

Published Jan 11, 2011 3:17 PM by The Maritime Executive

Linthicum, MD: This week’s Shipping Operations Cooperative (SOCP) meetings kicked off in high-spirited fashion with a rousing speech given by Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) who told the gathered crowd of maritime educators that “the greatest threat to America’s national security was not Al Queda, but instead lies in our failure to properly educate our own children.” As this SOCP conference got underway at the MITAGS Conference Center, it was clear that Conference organizer and maritime educator Arthur Sulzer had chosen the right man to muster the troops into action. And, not a moment too soon.

This week’s SOCP meeting theme was entitled, “Maritime and Intermodal Education for Primary and Secondary Schools in America; “Onboard to a Future Career.” The first part of that long-winded lead-in will tell even most casual reader a lot about what is being planned to alleviate the worst human resources shortage on the waterfront in more than fifty years. Whereas many point only to the partial failures of the seven traditional maritime academies to put enough bodies into license programs and then onto marine platforms, the new way of thinking has educators aiming much lower. With representatives of at least 13 of the nation’s 18 maritime high schools in attendance, Sulzer told his audience that the idea of a maritime career had to be pushed much further down to younger children. At this conference, the consensus was that the formative years of fourth to sixth grades were the ideal time to weave the maritime message into any school’s curriculum.

The programs are taking root and starting -- albeit slowly -- to produce results. Some of the growing pains associated with the concept of a “maritime” primary or secondary education have revolved around the fact that some of these schools have, until now, been maritime in name only. Accordingly, U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton exhorted his dinner audience at SOCP on Tuesday night to “develop a standardized and uniform curriculum for a maritime education.” The underlying message was clear: a uniform approach, on a nationwide level, might produce the kinds of backing, assistance and general acceptance that could catapult these ideas into an industry asset.

At Art Sulzer’s Maritime Academy Charter High School in Philadelphia, the program has grown from just 300 students to one which accommodates over 700, with a waiting list of about 300. The obvious draw of a charter school is an improved education for children who otherwise might be “left behind,” but as the maritime aspect of education is woven into the curriculum on a deeper level, Art Sulzer also says, “This opens the eyes of young people to the possibility of maritime as an education -- and a career.” But, Sulzer and the other school pioneers can’t do it alone. They clearly need help from a variety of sources.

The workshops and plenary sessions at this SOCP conference gave notice that the use of primary and secondary maritime education -- as a tool to bring talent that otherwise might not have considered the sea as a career choice -- is far more than just a nascent concept. Attendees participated in discussions on Maritime Teacher Development, Curriculum Development, Assistance Programs, “Women on the Water,” and even in Working Groups on how to better market these programs. If the energy of the players was any indication future success, then industry can be assured that help is on the way.

At Tuesday’s SOCP luncheon, NOAA ADM Jonathon W. Bailey began by remarking tongue-and-cheek to his audience, “Has anyone here ever been in a room with Congressman Cummings when he is angry?” The remark, in clear reference to Cummings’ passionate opening speech, brought a laugh, but also served to underscore the importance of bringing highly placed players from the Washington maritime scene into play when trying to solve the prickly problem of the shortfall of qualified mariners. In the case of Mr. Cummings, his involvement is perhaps the most important: His zeal for both education and the desire to improve the maritime sectors shepherded by his Subcommittee on U.S. Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation may yet yield real dividends, down the road. Throw in the attendance of Maritime Administrator Connaughton and RADM James Watson (Director of Prevention Policy) and this meeting -- designed to jumpstart the process of educating the next generation of mariners as to their unlimited possibilities -- adds up to this year’s perfect storm of progress on an important maritime issue.

It is rare that all of the important parts of any one sector of the maritime industry can get together and have substantive talks on how to move forward and then solve an important problem. But that’s just what happened this week at the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) in Linthicum, MD. With representatives of every sector of maritime education in attendance -- including primary and secondary schools, maritime academies, apprentice programs and in-house training initiatives -- the free exchange of information was remarkable. But it was Tom Bushy of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy who put it best when he said, "When the tide comes in, all boats float." That kind of cooperation, implicit in the mission of SOCP, will be the key to solving the manning crisis. So far, so good. -- MarEx

Joseph Keefe is the Managing editor of THE MARITIME EXECUTIVE. He can be reached at [email protected] with questions or comments on this or any other article in this e-newsletter.

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