EA States blamed for lack of seafaring skills in region

East African States have been asked to acquire sea vessels to facilitate training of local sailors. International Transport Federation (ITF) Regional Secretary Joe Katende said such training would enable sailors to compete effectively in the global market.

He said Kenya and other East African nations own no commercial ships, placing their seafarers at a great disadvantage. Speaking at Bandari College in Mombasa during a seafarer's empowerment forum, he said most sailors from East Africa were missing employment opportunities overseas due to poor training and lack of requisite sailing time.

"It is not convincing that a regional maritime leader like Kenya does not own vessels. If individual countries deem it expensive, they can team up and form an East African shipping line," said Katende.

He said currently, Kenyans and other African seafarers were disadvantaged as they could not acquire top-notch skills to enable them get jobs in ships from Asia and Europe.