Alves MICHAEL
Managing Director
AFC MERCY

Building up Angola’s seafaring workforce

Angola

Alves Michael, managing director of AFC MERCY, talks to The Energy Year about how the company has attracted strategic partnerships in support of Angolan maritime local content and the next steps in the company’s partnership with Seatrain Consulting. AFC Mercy provides consulting services in the Angolan oil and gas sector.

How has AFC MERCY’s partnership with Seatrain been evolving?
The Angolan pool of seafarers is very small and does not yet cover local demand, especially officer positions. In addition, Angola is not yet an IMO [International Maritime Organisation] white-listed country under the STCW Convention. Seafarers are required to seek listed maritime administrations, from which academic programmes and finally the certificate of competencies (CoC) for both ratings and officer levels can be obtained.
Were we to have the official statistics of the CoC-certified Angolan ratings and officers, I would say 60-70% have been issued by SAMSA [South African Maritime Safety Authority] under Seatrain management in South Africa.
AFC MERCY, in partnership with Seatrain, represents in Angola The South African Maritime Training Academy, based in Cape Town. AFC MERCY supports shipowners by recruiting cadets and providing guidance on training requirements in Angola in coordination with Seatrain.

How does the relative lack of nationally certified seafarers impact vessel and rig managers in Angola?
This lack is impacting companies from the vessel and rig tendering stage due to local content requirements that seek to achieve 70% nationalisation in a company or project. The training programme presented by AFC MERCY is a temporary solution while students are at school and others are engaged in on-the-job training programmes.
Vessel and rig owners can participate in AFC Mercy’s programme when they begin a project requiring certified seafarers. Vessel and rig managers trading in Angola for more than five years have mostly trained and developed their seafarers and offshore personnel in-house.
Ultimately, the main impact of the lack of certified seafarers is on payroll costs because most seafarers are international, and higher pay is also provided to local seafarers due to their shortage in number.

What is the next step in AFC MERCY’s objectives to offer integrated solutions?
AFC MERCY continues to follow its vision of “being a national reference in offering offshore integrated solutions.” Our current partners’ services, our local network and our in-house services allow us to remain a reliable and cost-effective local partner in maritime services in Angola.
Our next step is to consolidate and work closely with our key partners and to ensure our brand remains competitive. We look to add value to our partners to make them competitive in Angola.

Which business divisions are managed in-house by AFC MERCY?
We manage many divisions in-house and our quality management is DNV-certified under ISO 9001:2015. Our marine services division supports vessel management, offshore projects and local content advisory, while our crew management division provides manpower services, which include the recruitment and placement of seafarers and onshore and offshore personnel.
We are MLC 2006 certified under DNV standards for manning offices. Our husbandry services help our clients obtain Angolan visas, as well as manage crew change support and procurement.
We also act as a shipping agency, dealing with vessel clearance, temporary imports and port operations, and we have a freight forwarding and international procurement department, in partnership with Clarion Shipping, to ensure goods are freighted to and from Angola among the main countries Clarion operates in, such as countries in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Southeast Asia; the UK; and the USA. We store your goods in Angola and forward them to your destination in a seamless manner.

How is AFC MERCY supporting international companies intending to enter Angola?
AFC MERCY provides unique, practical and strategic guidance that allows visiting companies to familiarise themselves with Angola in a very smooth and competitive manner.

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