There is a shortage of captains on the Danube due to the suspension of the issuance of qualification documents

The professional community proposes to introduce a temporary mechanism for the qualification of shipmasters for work on the Danube.

There is a growing shortage of qualified shipmasters on the Danube, in particular captains and assistant captains who are entitled to work on European inland waterways, NIBULON повідомляє reports.

The captain of the Pereyaslavsky, Oleksandr Vonsovich, became the first among the company’s captains to complete the route along the Middle and Upper Danube.

According to him, working on the river has its own specifics: the water level changes almost daily, while it is possible to plan trips only a few days in advance.

“We have long caravans – 180-220 meters. This is about the same as a large bulk carrier. But a bulk carrier goes by sea. And you move along the river, where the fairway can be 40-50 meters, and sometimes about 20 meters. And such a caravan still needs, for example, to make a 90° turn. This is not easy – you need experience specifically on the Danube,” Vonsovich said.

To work on European inland waterways, he underwent appropriate training and received a qualification diploma. According to the captain, about a month and a half after that, such documents stopped being issued in Ukraine.

NIBULON notes that this has effectively stopped two processes at once: new shipmasters cannot obtain qualifications to work on Danube routes, and those who already have the relevant diploma cannot renew it after its expiration date.

“Because of this, there is a shortage of people — especially captains and assistant captains,” said Vonsovich.

The company emphasizes that the problem is becoming increasingly acute, since the Danube remains one of the key alternative routes for the export of Ukrainian agricultural products.

As a possible solution, the professional community proposes introducing a temporary mechanism for the qualification of shipmasters to work on the Danube. According to NIBULON, this could increase the capacity of the Danube export corridor by approximately 100 thousand tons of transportation per month.

USM previously reported that the European Commission called the Danube Corridor the most promising alternative for Ukrainian exports.