specific measures have been implemented in the successive stages of education, recruitment and career development, including expanding the scope of onboard practice (company ship training) using the ships owned by international shipping operators, introducing company ship training for coastal shipping operators, sponsoring job fairs for new graduates and technical training sessions for retired seafarers and providing vocational education at the Marine Technical College.

In addition to these efforts to secure and foster seafarers, continued efforts will be directed at conducting job applicant support training sessions for would-be seafarers, broadening the population of candidates for mariners by staging maritime publicity campaigns, such as awarding those who have rendered distinguished service to the promotion of an oceanic state (Prime Minister’s Award) and promoting On-board Occupational Health and Safety Management System and Work Improvement on Board (WIB), a continual approach to reducing mariner accidents to add to the vocational charms of the job of being a seafarer.

The I.A.I. Marine Technical Education Agency and the National Institute for Sea Training are the seafarer training institutions over which the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism hold jurisdiction. The I.A.I. Marine Technical Education Agency not only provides new seafarers' education but also implements reeducation to meet shipping firms' needs or to catch up with technological innovations. The National Institute for Sea Training provides unified onboard practical training on students at the I.A.I. Marine Technical Education Agency and mercantile marine colleges and technical colleges using five training ships. The National Institute for Sea Training has built a small coastal training ship to replace its aged turbine training ship to provide on-board training tailored to the actual needs of coastal vessel operation in an effort to develop young seafarers who are capable of service off hand both effectively and efficiently.

## (2) Marine transportation industry

### a. International shipping

The volume of cargo movement on ocean in the world for 2012 stood 9,468,000,000 tons (up 4.0% from its year earlier level), with Japan’s volume of seaborne trade for the same year at 960,110,000 tons (up 6.4% from its year earlier level).

In FY2012, the business climate for international shipping remained generally harsh as the market trended sluggish, bunker oil prices settled at higher levels and so on while concerns over global economic slowdowns elevated with European financial and banking problems spread to emerging nations.

### b. Domestic passenger shipping industries

The domestic passenger shipping industries has been continuously caught in a tough management climate due to divers factors such as drastic declines in the volume of transportation after protracted economic recessions. The ferry services, which plays an important role as a means of regional transport and as a modal shift receiver, has reduced the number of service and has even pulled out, threatening continued availability of sea routes.

Accordingly, a variety of support measures have been advanced in collaboration with local governments and operators, including making ships more energy-efficient through the introduction of energy-saving equipment, enhancing the charms of voyage by sea and improving user convenience in with the tourism industry.

On April 1, 2011, there were 968 operators, who carried 84,070,000 passengers during FY2010 (down 1.2% from a year earlier).

### c. Coastal shipping

Coastal shipping offers high economic efficiency and excellent shipping characteristics in terms of environmental preservation. Coastal shipping is a key means of transportation supporting Japan’s economic activity and national life, as