1) Department of Transport needs to employ ex captain or Seafarers, people who know what’s going on at sea.

2) Getting companies to take South African cadets

3) Honestly at this point I’m very discouraged by the South African government. So, I’ll keep fighting for myself and forcing my way into spaces of opportunity because nobody is going to lookout for me other than myself

4) More Ships on the SA register that will employ SA seafarers and a South African fleet

5) South African Government must push hard with the initiative of buying its own vessels; this will close a big gap in the seafaring Career.

6) Not only in South Africa but Africa in general should unite and try to create better seafarers

7) Collaborate with shipping companies and ship owners. Recognition of SA CoC in the form of governmental agreements

8) To have better practical training at university level. An increase in manning companies so that not everyone is dependent on SAMTRA or MSC.

9) Focus on the human element. Seafarers are subjected to a lot of verbal abuse and sometimes physical and sexual from senior offices which is damaging to the individual seafarer’s wellbeing. Exposure to more shipping companies who can provide employment to SA seafarers. Hold honest discussions on what the seafaring career is like with those aspiring to join the industry, so they are fully prepared. Find solutions to pressing issues of unemployment of SA seafarers. A lot of companies are pulling away from employing SA seafarers. One of the reasons they’ve put forward is that SA seafarers are lazy, which is not necessarily the case—SA know their right and exercise them accordingly which sometimes disrupts operations and causes delays, upsetting shipowners and clients. This I found is the main reason SA seafarers are losing opportunities at sea but aren’t aware. It would be great to hold discussions with seafarers in this regard so behaviour could be changed. And hopefully the shipowners and their agents can open doors to SA seafarers.

10) Firstly, they must reduce tertiary intake to 15 because there's no employment

11) More cadetships AND employment after cadet ships.

12) Scrap employment by race.

13) Provide more training

14) Don’t concentrate on entry level requirements (cadetship) but also progression for the more experienced personnel. Avail recognised softer skills training doable by seafarers in their contract. If not able to get SA registered ships, have MOU with other neighbouring countries for the preferential placement of SA seafarers. Regulate the cost of ancillary training for seafarers & make it viable for customers-this one is tricky because the business side will suffer but we do need to make the industry accessible to an average San. Add Fishing Operations as a module to an average Nautical Studies syllabus so students who’ve completed their studies can crossover to fishing without needing to attend a different school for a single module. Liaise with Class Societies to see any gaps in our training that could be relevant to them & perhaps employ the students with no/limited sea experience. Get Naval Architecture qualification in SA to expand available work options for seafarers.

15) Proper practical training as most seaman cannot work on every vessel

16) South African maritime stakeholders must come together to serve a common goal in the country's best ability not political basis. Many seafarers are from KZN, and we don't have a well-known manning agency based in KZN that will yearly recruit DUT graduate.

17) More access to training for cadets. More berths. More involvement in the wellbeing of seafarers at sea

18) Need to provide or make way for cadetship opportunity, or alternative ways to find jobs at sea. Maybe SASCO will solve these problems.

19) Make it easier for us to travel without visas...Europeans have access to more jobs as their passports are worth more...we must jump through hoops to get visas, etc...

20) For us as a country to not stop at getting cadetship but also make sure there is employment after cadetship is done. Start investing in the training of seafarers by going to see what the rest the world is doing that we are not.

21) Create more exposure to the career

22) More connections with shipping companies

23) Provide more employment opportunities, reduce contract length and offer shore side benefits to seafarers

24) We must try to teach young professionals that the culture difference exists on board international going ships to avoid misunderstanding other nationals. Many young cadets quit their careers because of the treatment which is mainly focused by the culture difference.

25) Have connections with other international companies so that they can be open to hiring South African seafarers, we have a lot of qualified officers sitting at home

26) Promote seafarer career options at the lowest level, such as High Schools. Dissolve Transnet. Allocate even more funding to SAMTRA so that they can increase the cadet output each year Change the examination process for CoC’s at SAMSA to systems seen in Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.

27) Increase number of South African vessels for international voyages and provide sea time to seafarers who require one

28) The supply is more than the demand, universities are supplying more cadets (taking more students for money benefits while there is less demand) I feel like they need to be monitored on the intake and people who are employed as industry development needs to commit themself and engage with shipping companies to give South African seafarers a chance.

29) Allowing online studying for postgraduates. Practical simulations at university level.

30) We must make sure that everyone including young ones and adults are exposed to maritime activities which will result to us taking seafaring as our South African culture.

31) In South Africa, we do not have a ship, which makes it hard to get a job. You spend more time at home than at sea.

32) Easing of laws that may be possibly hampering attraction of the country as an investment hub, for more investors to come onboard with their ships. Funding of South Africans who want to be ship owners to be made easy. Industrializing the country, by enabling raw materials to be processed and more products to be made

33) Making sure that all South African seafarers secure jobs at sea just like any other nationalities.

34) Work on attracting more international companies to employ South African seafarers. But firstly, the quality of our seafarers must be improved to justify to these large companies that investing in South African is worth their time. These companies require a high number of quality seafarers than we cannot supply at this moment. Improvement starts at a training level. Aiming to meet the absolute minimum requirements is simply not enough. Our standards need to be raised if we want to compete on a global scale.

35) The South African government could buy merchant vessels so that it will be easy for students coming from varsity to get the required sea time. Also, the government could look to use cabotage and reduce tax for vessels only if they will have a certain percentage of their crew as South Africans.

36) We need more recruiting agencies and more companies to provide employment to seafarers who are still seeking jobs.

37) Allow students enrolled in the Maritime programs in colleges and universities to have an insight of how the sea life is like, by offering them cadetship before they finish their diploma. Make them aware of what the future holds, instead of allowing them to first finish their course before going to sea, which is also a struggle because the jobs are scarce nowadays.

38) More opportunities for women and companies should stop using ablution as an excuse.

39) Do not sell people lies about job opportunities. The jobs out there are scarce and with the rise in Black and Female seafarers getting employed before those more qualified must stop. Give people equal opportunities with regards their qualification and personality rather than their gender/race.

40) Have the SA government enter into agreement with international ship companies to employ South Africans 30% per year. Also seafarers have a strong union which will fight for us and seafarers in order to be valued in this country.

41) The South African government prioritising the addition of South African training berths as well as more partnerships with international shipping companies to train South African seafarers.

42) Marine Studies should be introduced more in High School levels where you still had to decide what career should you go for and on Varsity levels, make sure you also sponsor the practicals during the course.

43) We can have new technology and work with shipping companies as other countries do so it can be easy to find placement

44) I've only did my training on domestic vessels, and honestly, I haven't had a problem onboard vessel. The only thing that's a problem is fewer vessels that we have and more qualified officers that are unemployed South Africa needs to start producing employment for those seafarers.

45) Universities should offer STCW courses as part of the qualification, so that new university graduate can easily be employable. Recruiting companies like an ever-ready candidate that they'll not do any work on, just hire.

46) We could have more manning agencies coax companies to work with South African seafarers because now we are having little to no employment at all

47) Truth.

48) Review SAMSA code for training requirements to ensure that training is aligned and minimized to STCW requirements.

49) Offering more opportunities and improving the countries Maritime Sector as a whole, training the young graduates could improve the seafaring in South Africa.

50) Advancement of seafarer’s soft skills at the earlier date

51) When organisations find companies that will employ South Africans as cadet, ensure it does not stop at the cadetship that they also provide employment for them. To also train us as South Africans especially the younger generations that when you go out there, it is not just for yourself but you are representing every South African. Some of our training institutes need to be vetted and inspected properly, every now and then a new training place pops up in South Africa and the place does not have accreditation. We need to vet ourselves against the best in the world

52) Some mitigation should be put in place where is comes to fishing vessels

53) A stronger arm in the marine union.