It's a sad but situation driven by demand!
When you compare the aviation industry against the maritime industry they run cadet schemes pumping out graduates every 6 months. The training (almost £75,000) is fully paid for by the companies and you even get paid a salary during college. It's a win/win. The government stump up some cash towards this and they also help the companies out with some tonnage tax relief for each cadet they take so everyone ones a winner.
Cadet gets qualified for free > company gets cheap labour during cadetship > company gets some cash back for taking on cadets.
why does this happen? shortage of willing candidates who would like a career at sea and the attrition rate of officers is very high.
I'd say the most important aspects of the maritime industry is that training schools are still run by traditional educational establishments, not the multi million pound businesses like within aviation. As long as there is a steady line of people paying the cash for training the prices will never drop.