By Yang Huiwen

MARITIME firms are holding on to skilled staff despite the plunge in global trade as they fear another manpower shortage once the industry rebounds.

A conference on staffing in the sector heard yesterday how firms are opting to send key personnel for retraining rather than retrenching them.

'As late as mid-last year, we were screaming for people. The worst is to retrench people only to find a shortage of manpower when demand comes back,' said Singapore Shipping Association (SSA) president Teo Siong Seng, better known as S.S. Teo, who is also managing director of Pacific International Lines.

He was speaking at the biennial Maritime Manpower Singapore 2009 conference, the fifth in the series since its inception in 2001.

Just early last year, the shortage of qualified professionals, in particular seafarers, was one of the biggest growth constraints of the then booming industry.

But even with the global economic crisis, which has led to a collapse in demand and excess capacity, the industry is still projected to face a shortage of talent in the long term.

The International Transport Workers' Federation, for instance, expects a shortfall of 87,900 seafarers worldwide by 2012.

About $1.9 million from the Singapore Maritime Training Fund has been invested in training and upgrading around 1,000 officers sailing on Singapore-registered ships, said Mr Thomas Tay, general secretary of the Singapore Maritime Officers' Union.

The SSA also plans to train about 1,600 workers this year under the Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience.

'The battle is not over until we see the upturn,' said labour chief Lim Swee Say, who was guest of honour as well as a panellist in a dialogue session.

'Not all industries and companies will recover at the same time, and at the same pace.'

This article was first published in The Straits Times.