Yak Diving Academy secures full membership of the International Diving Schools Association France making it the first in Asia
In a bid to remain on top, maritime training academies embark on strategies such as introducing newer courses; get affiliated to renowned world institutions; or raise the quality / standard. St Xavier’s Technical Institute and CMAR Group came up with Dynamic Positioning training; Tolani Maritime Training Institute and a few others introduced “Ship in Campus” concept; while ISF Marine Services came up with total “On-board Training” system. Now the Yak Group which was the first to start training in deep sea diving has clinched full membership of the International Diving Schools Association (IDSA) France making their Yak Diving Academy the only one of its kind in Asia to be accorded this recognition.
Besides conducting merchant navy courses for over a decade, Yak Group in Khopoli, near Navi Mumbai recently diversified into imparting commercial air diving, underwater welding, underwater cutting, and underwater videography in order to meet the demand for skilled divers by the offshore oil and gas industry. So far the need for divers for the offshore E & P was being met mostly from overseas or from navy divers who have completed their contract. But the rapid growth of this sector has created a huge gap between demand and supply.
“Yak Academy is the first institution in Asia to receive recognition for its state-of-the-art facilities and its quality training curriculum from IDSA,” stated Leo Lagarde, Chairman of IDSA while handing over the membership certificate to D. S. Yadav, Chairman of Yak Group, at a simple ceremony in Mumbai on June 3, 2010.
He stated that the Association is concerned with all divers - offshore, inshore and inland. It has already established International Diver Training Standards based on the consensus opinion of its many members. The Standards provide both a yardstick for those responsible for either administering existing National Standards or creating new ones, and a guide for clients, diving contractors and divers themselves.
“The demand for quality divers is on the increase worldwide as there is large scale production and exploration of oil and gas from sea,” stated Mr. Yadav who has 27 years of experience in the Indian Navy, and 10 years of sailing experience on oil tankers as chief engineer. “The requirement for divers is felt everywhere as dams, rivers, sea, and foreign countries need divers increasingly. Our diving training facility will provide an opportunity to the aspiring youth who wish to pursue diving as a career. It will also spare them from having to go overseas for similar training as is the case so far. In foreign countries training in diving is expensive. With the news courses started by Yak, aspiring foreign students can have quality training at half the cost.”