Hi Stu,
I agree partly with what your saying, but conditions have improved for cadets. And 3 years to be paid through a cadetship, to travel and to get a degree fully sponsored is something great, when most people come out with student debts. There is a lot of work still out there, and there is still a demand for British Seafarers, I know by the job adverts I get in my inbox, OK some of the salaries are relatively low by industry standards, but are much more then a graduates salary. I have never been out of work in 10 years, and have quit jobs without another to goto yet by the time i've stepped off the gangway, I've managed to step onto another.
But I do agree that staying at sea is far from ideal for everyone, however the way the system is setup, the majority of the guys who complete cadetships walk into shoreside jobs in port operations, shipping operations, insurance, surveying, and are really in demand.
The yacht I'm leaving at the moment is absolutely struggling to get an experienced commercially licensed officer to come in.
The tax situation; it was reviewed again this year, and the big problem the government has with the offshore sector is that the tax relief was never designed for that. The tax relief was designed to encourage British Merchant Navy Officers salaries to remain competative at sea, to ensure there was a supply should they even need a British Merchant Navy in times of war after the Falklands situation. Why should deep sea divers on circa 1000 GBP a day, be entitled to it???
