Opportunities for seafarer employment and training

Cape Town - New employment opportunities for local seafarers have arisen, while a most welcome maritime training course for school-leavers wishing to embark on seagoing careers has been announced.

Through its newly established partnership with the SA Maritime Training Academy (Samtra) in Simon’s Town, Glasgow-based Northern Marine is embarking on a hopefully long-term sustainable programme of employing South African cadets and experienced officers.

The recruitment of candidates to become part of Northern Marine’s intake of South African cadets has begun, and forms part of the company’s ongoing strategy of producing officers who are immersed in its culture of safety and quality, with the opportunity to progress through the ranks.

In the short term, however, Northern Marine is also seeking junior and senior officers with relevant tanker experience to join its fleet of managed vessels. They will join other South African officers within the fleet. The establishment of this relationship with Samtra is an opportunity to diversify Northern Marine’s seafaring talent pool with additional quality seafarers. Northern Marine’s first consideration when employing new officers, however, centres on their experience, adaptability and ensuring that they meet the legislative requirements for employment aboard tankers.

This important development enhances the prospects of seagoing careers for South Africans who have noted with despair the demise of the locally flagged fleet, a process that has impacted greatly on long-term careers for local seafarers.

Established in 2003 through far-sighted co-operation between Simon’s Town School and the Western Cape Education Department on the one hand, and Safmarine and the AP Moller Group on the other, Samtra already provides specialised training courses for numerous local and foreign seafarers, many of whom are involved in the offshore oil and gas industry. Its bridge and marine engine simulation courses are popular with serving officers to upgrade their skills or to prepare for examinations for their seagoing certificates.

In terms of the agreement with Northern Marine, Samtra will provide a crewing service on their behalf, and already has recruited 12 suitably qualified officers for the fleet managed by the Glasgow- based company. In addition, it will appoint six deck cadets and six engineer cadets immediately for employment aboard tankers.

Apart from its existing training programmes and its services to Northern Marine as well as to several other principals, Samtra has additional interesting training plans for next year that will create more opportunities for South African school-leavers to gain worthwhile and internationally accredited maritime qualifications.

At a recent well-attended gathering, Samtra unveiled its 26-week Officer-of-the-Watch course that begins next year and that carries accreditation from the SA Maritime Safety Authority – and therefore has international accreditation. It combines theoretical and practical training that will include time on Samtra’s full bridge simulators.

Responding to the demands from shipowners for a short, more flexible and vocationally oriented officer training programme, Samtra’s team custom-designed the course for those with a National Senior Certificate with good passes in mathematics and physical science. Its structure will fast-track training, without compromising the high standards for which local maritime training has been renowned, from the days of the Training Ship General Botha.

A team of specialist lecturers – all former seafarers with many years’ experience and regarded as among the best in South Africa – will present the various modules. Their experience and expertise in their various fields of lecturing will ensure that there are no short cuts and that cadets will be extended fully during their training.

Each module will be examined at its conclusion, rather than during a period of examinations at the end of the course. This gives cadets who did not meet the requirements in one module the chance to rewrite almost immediately, rather than foregoing valuable sea-time and earnings to rewrite the following year.

A similar course for school-leavers who wish to qualify as engineering officers is also envisaged.

Apart from meeting the requirements of companies such as Northern Marine, Samtra’s new course will help to expand the pool of qualified seafarers ahead of the inevitable implementation of cabotage in local shipping. In terms of this system, operation on specific shipping services such as the coastal movement of cargoes or the shipment of certain commodities will be reserved for South African-registered ships. That will promote the employment of many local seafarers.

For cabotage to be implemented, however, much carefully researched legislation and other preparatory work, as well as thorough training of seagoing personnel, will be necessary for the successful transition to such a radically different system in local shipping. Therefore, its phasing in could take about 10 years.

With close co-operation between Samtra and its principals – including shipowners, agencies, the international cruise sector and the superyacht industry – the academy’s new and exciting training venture has the potential to produce dozens of excellent officers.

Northern Marine’s welcomed involvement will enhance opportunities for ships’ officers – and the country needs every possible employment opening.

brian@capeports.co.za

Cape Times