TIM eMagazine Vol.1 Issue 3
seafarers need to enhance and upgrade their skills to
cope up with such advancements. This would mean the
generation of tech-savvy officers and crewmembers that
can cope up with, and adapt to, such advances, as well
as re-evaluating labour standards that can be suitable to
such ‘improved professions.’ Question is, how will these
seafarers cope up?
There are several government and quasi-government
organizations charged with overseeing and regulating
seafarer training, which will also have to include adapting
measures and introducing provisions to changes wrought
by technological advances. These include the UN
Bodies International Maritime Organization (IMO),
International Labour Organization (ILO), BIMCO, ICS
and ITF—in addition to national bodies responsible of
different countries.
Training vis-a-vis technological refinements provide
that backdrop in improving safety records while, at
the same time, helping preserve the environment. So
is the need for manpower capable of manning these
instruments. Yet as shipping trade and leisure travel
movement grows between emerging markets and
developed countries, as well as within defined regions
such as ASEAN and Mediterranean countries, for
instance, the burden for enhancing the much needed
upgradements in training will increasingly call for
concerted efforts between national seafarer training
organizations, government regulatory bodies, and global
regulating organizations.
The launch of the IMO, in partnership with global
shipping industry bodies of the ‘Go To Sea’ campaign
is indeed a good move to attract more and more
people to consider ‘seafaring as an attractive option for
young people that can provide rewarding and longterm prospects, not only at sea, but also in the broader
maritime industry.’ IMO has also established an umbrella
initiative under which governments can mount their own
campaigns to improve seafarer recruitment.
As the old saying goes, training never stops. In the
maritime setting, new technologies are a proving ground
on how learners and instructors can find that common
ground to make ends meet. And these must go beyond
the tested, yet outdated methodologies that seem to be
out of place in today’s rapidly advancing, computerized
world.
While these may be a hindrance to older practitioners
who are used to theoretical, by-the-book technical
methods, these may prove an advantage to the younger
seafarers-to-be, who tend to be tech-savvy and are
abreast with the latest applications that the computerized
world has to offer. Yet let us be warned that ALL
concerned bodies--government and private-- that
regulate and create guidelines for improving seafarer
training in both global and local scales must not come
up with short-term, stop-gap remedies that will result
in cost-cutting or compromise on safety; they must all
invest their time and effort in checking, identifying,
testing and applying what programs and measures can
be effective not only for enhancing cadet proficiency or
promoting safety ashore, but for setting new benchmarks
for the industry as a whole.
As for seafarers themselves, having all those
proficiency levels in the different professions that the
industry has to offer is never the end of getting hired and
going ashore. There is also that spirit of competitiveness
and dedication that will truly reshape today’s breed of
quality seafarers whereas, to stay in touch with the real
world--where change continues at a very fast pace-newer skills and techniques have to be developed.
While computerization sounds amazing and the yen to
learn such processes enthusiastically continues--especially
among the youth, the opportunities for developing and
improving one’s profession along the lines of this new
era are vast, presenting both trials and triumphs that are
worth all efforts every step of the way.
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