Germanischer Lloyd has begun offering training to those seafarers wanting to come ashore and make it big
Fervent pleas at various forums for help in inducting marine officers leaving the sea to start a new life ashore, has finally found a knight in shining armor. With an ever growing tide of marine officers coming ashore, Germanischer Lloyd (GL) taken on the pioneering role of fostering the well being of such officers by helping them develop skills and competence so that they are better conditioned to serve in shore based jobs.
Over the past 150 years of operation as a ship classification society, GL has been able to amass a huge data base. As a result they have been able to reposition themselves to take on this new role of helping shipyards, ship manning, ship-management, ship owning and ship repair companies with qualified manpower in order to provide high quality service to clients.
Kaushik K. Seal who has been instrumental in establishing the Mumbai based GL’s Academy for South Asia talks about the imperative need felt by various maritime companies in this regard. “There is a gap in the experience and knowledge between those seafarers who quit the sea say 15 years back and those coming ashore now. Seafarers are now quitting the sea life at an early age of around 35 years compared to those earlier officers who served until they were over 50 before coming ashore thus having about 30 years of experience behind them. Most companies find seafarers coming ashore lack the required skills and have to be groomed and fine tuned prior to placement onshore. GL has taken on the pioneering role to provide specialized training to help fill this gap. We are first to come up with modular courses for all such officers and engineers.”
The modular courses offered include Ship Technology, Hull Monitoring, Damage to Machinery, Bridge Design, Ship Repairs and even courses to deal with piracy known as Maritime Security. Besides there are several other courses that have gained popularity and some being tailor-made to suit long and short term needs of the companies. The courses have been devised under three categories viz. Basic, Advanced and Advances plus, depending on the one’s existing experience and exposure to relevant area of his choice. There are also vast array of customized training solutions for in-house seminars and courses for their various clients in the maritime, energy and oil and gas sector.
GL plans to enter other cities not just in India but also in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal with the object of creating a top class trainer base. GL is open to forming tie-ups with good quality maritime industrial training institutes with the aim of reaching a much wider audience. Worldwide, GL claims to have conducted 141 seminars with more than 2,300 participants.
Mr. Seal who is a recipient of the Millennium Achievers’ Award in 2002 from the International Institute of Success Awareness advises prospective naval cadets thus: It is not advisable to sail too long because it may scuttle one’s chance to further hone his technical skills and upgrade his knowledge set. A 12 to 15 year’s career is an ideal period to sail. On shore one can associate himself with shipping sector in various capacities. This is important if one can associate himself with the shipping sector in various capacities. It is hard work but it does fetch good fortunes.