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INSTEAD
of continuously asking governments to improve the
quality of their seafarers’ education, a London-based
group of maritime employers has taken matters into its
own hands.
To
address the shortage of officers onboard oceangoing
vessels, the International Maritime Employers Committee
(Imec) has appointed a training manager in Manila to
administer a program which will help turn cadets into
ship officers.
The
group, which maintains a representative office in
Manila, said it appointed Captain Cedric D’Souza, 45,
who has Anglo-Eastern training experience, last January
1.
D’Souza,
45, will initially be responsible for administering the
dedicated IMEC’s cadet-training classes that will start
at the University of Cebu by June.
An
extensive training program, including rating-to-officer
training courses, has also been approved by the IMEC’s
executive board, the group said. The program covers the
group’s other training initiatives including English
language training in Eastern Europe, rating to officer
conversion courses in several countries including the
Philippines and Russia.
IMEC
said that the necessary funding to cover these
initiatives have already been approved through the
International Maritime Training Trust (IMTT), the
group’s training arm.
“IMEC
had obtained funds from IMTT to provide English language
training in several East and Central European countries
and in 2008, IMEC delegations would visit countries,
which might provide potential new labor sources to
investigate whether IMEC recruitment and training
initiatives might be welcomed and viable,” the group
said, without giving estimates nor projections.
In a
recent interview, officials said that the group has
alloted about L150,000 (about $304,605 or P14.36
million) for the one-year training of some 14 maritime
lecturers from both the Philippines and Britain.
Most of
the funds will be spent on lecturers’ tuition which will
assist them in securing the Postgraduate Certificate in
Maritime Education and Training, transportation expenses
to and from the UK, accommodation, among others, except
the participants’ stipends and allowances.
“While
negotiations with International Transport Workers’
Federation and its affiliates over pay and employment
conditions will probably remain as the cornerstone of
the work of IMEC for the foreseeable future, recruitment
and training activities, particularly the quality of the
training that is provided, are likely to assume a far
greater prominence than they have done in the past. The
appointment of Captain D’Souza is a key ingredient in
these new initiatives,” said David Dearsly, IMEC’s
secretary-general, in a statement. |
