With one in five seafarers set to retire in the next five years, Canada's shipping industry could face some choppy waters, says an official with Seafarers International Union.

The union is looking for hundreds of skilled workers to help overcome a labour shortage, says Vince Giannopoulos, seafarers union's recruitment campaign spokesperson.

"When you look at the median age in the industry, it is getting older," says Giannopoulos. "People are retiring faster than others are joining.

"At first glance, it's a negative, but the way I see it, there was a big hiring boom years ago. The guys who were hired stuck around. Now they are all retiring at once. It's a very stable career. We are trying to get ahead of the curve."

The seafarers union represents the majority of unlicensed sailors working aboard vessels on the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River as well as the East and West coasts of Canada.

Skilled workers with trades or marine experience have transferable skills needed on board merchant vessels and can work for companies such as Algoma Central, which is headquartered in St. Catharines, and Canada Steamship Lines, Giannopoulos says.

"Canada's marine economy is thriving, and more demand for seafarers means skilled workers can earn great pay and benefits in a long and stable career they can be proud of," he says.

Last June, the seafarer's union partnered with the Seafarers' Training Institute to launch a national hiring initiative aimed at recruiting, training and retaining young people.

Giannopoulos grew up in Port Colborne watching ships pass through the canal. He started sailing in 2011 and shipped out of Thorold.

Niagara has played an important role in Great Lakes shipping for centuries. At the dawn of the 19th century, merchants moved goods on a portage around the falls from Queenston to Chippawa. With the completion and expansion of the Welland Canal, the focal point changed to Port Colborne and St. Catharines. Louis Shickluna ran a shipyard that built hundreds of ships over a 40-year period in the mid-1800s at shipyards along the canal. Today, St. Catharines is home to Algoma Central, which owns and operates the largest fleet of carriers on the Great Lakes and has more than 1,400 employees.

"Transportation is such an important part of the economy," Giannopoulos says. "So much comes from ships, whether it is bottles of wine or furniture or cars or salt for the ice on the roads. We are proud of the job we do.

"The money is good. Even if you do it for five or 10 years, you have some cash you can invest in yourself, whether it is going back to school or getting some more training."

Giannopoulos says pay varies with the position. Someone working on a tugboat going home every night is going to make less than a guy going away for three months.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

"The lowest position would be a deckhand at $23 or $24 an hour. Chief cooks are upwards of $31 an hour."

The union has a website, www.seafarers.ca/careers, with career information.