The shortage of skilled personnel in offshore support vessels (OSV) has become one of the main challenges for operators in this industry. While charter rates and new construction plans are making headlines, what is truly concerning is the supply of personnel for these vessels. Many operators face the issue of who can fill the senior position on the vessel and whether the individual has enough DP (Dynamic Positioning) hours to keep their certification valid.
Costs Associated with Delays in Crew Supply
Support vessels waiting for personnel have no income. Each time a crew change is delayed, the pressure for the next change increases, and contracts exceed what the sailors have agreed upon. This is clearly evident in customer inspections and incident reports. In a market where there is a demand for skilled crew in various sectors such as oil and gas and underwater construction, operators who view manpower as a key operational process are ultimately more successful.
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Challenges Related to Human Resource Supply
On paper, a marine officer is considered an officer. However, in practice, marine operations require a set of skills that deep-sea trades rarely provide. For example, a DP operator needs formal training as well as documented sea time on DP vessels to earn and maintain their certification. An officer who has worked for a year on traditional vessels may find that their DP qualification has slowly expired. This results in the number of officers who have both current certification and qualifications being much lower than the total number of DP certificates.
Additionally, working on deck during anchoring and towing operations is a hazardous task, and the confidence to perform this work depends on experience under the supervision of a captain and chief mate, not just classroom training. The same applies to loading operations alongside facilities, where all personnel on the vessel must understand regional limitations, weather constraints, and communication protocols with the extraction platform.
The result is that a good officer from the commercial fleet rarely has a similar replacement in OSV. When a key position in DP suddenly becomes vacant, the real choice is usually between a few suitable candidates, many of whom are already working on other vessels.
Directly, the costs associated with the absence of a key officer are easily visible. A vessel that cannot move because a key officer is absent becomes idle or faces the risk of penalties from contracts. Even one lost day can incur costs exceeding a year’s worth of manpower expenses for that position.
Indirect costs are less visible but equally real. When a replacement arrives late, the officer present on the vessel is forced to extend their working period. These extensions can lead to fatigue and increase the risk of mistakes during challenging operations.
Successful operators should focus on building a manpower base rather than thinking about vacant positions. For every key DP position on any vessel, they need to know who is currently on the vessel, who should replace them, and who is available as a backup.
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