Pre-budget Submission 2021-22
The COVID-19 global pandemic has had far reaching impacts on the maritime industry. Along with other essential services, shipping has continued to operate, albeit under significant strain.
Various sectors of the maritime industry are being affected differently depending on the nature of their operation. Marine tourism has been decimated. Offshore oil and gas services are being hit very hard as all forward projects are placed on hold or cancelled, this has resulted in the volume of activity reducing dramatically with many vessels leaving Australia.
Trading ships are operating at various levels of capacity depending on their trade (goods carried and area of operation). Towage and port services have experienced a V type impact on activity but still are not back to pre-COVID levels. Services supporting the industry are experiencing a downturn as a result of lower levels of activity and an inability to work as normal due to border closures.
The closure of internal and external borders has placed a disproportionate burden on industries that must traverse State/Territory and international borders as a matter of course in their operations. Combined with the limited and very expensive aviation linkages that are critical to the movement of maritime workers, the movement of this essential workforce has created a huge cost impost on this critical industry.
A recent survey by MIAL of our members indicates that of the respondents, only 36% will qualify for JobKeeper this quarter, down from 56% who received JobKeeper in either of the first two quarters. However, 100% of respondents say they have incurred increased costs as a result of COVID. Increased costs does not factor into JobKeeper eligibility so many businesses who might be just missing out on the basis of revenue are in fact wearing considerably higher operating costs at the same time. This has meant that they have needed to find cost savings from within their business which has regrettably impacted many employees.
Many businesses are expecting financial losses in 2020 and 2021 calendar years with recovery for several sectors not expected until late 2021/2022.