Chennai: Emphasis on skill upgradation to promote shipbuilding, logistics

Chennai: Creating an infrastructure without encouraging local expertise may not help in promoting the shipbuilding industry at all — so it appears to the BJP government at the Centre whose latest mantra is providing skills in the shipping industry.

Promoting skill to those aspiring to be seafarers besides logistics and wherewithal for expertise in shipbuilding industry will be the focus of the government. The Ministry of Shipping has planned to take up coastal district's skill gap analysis, with emphasis on ports and maritime sector through the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

"Skill development of personnel in the fields of logistics, dredging, offshore and small vessels and shipbuilding and ship-repair sector are identified as potential areas. In order to identify good quality students for training as seafarers, the Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) has permitted the opening of new institutes in the North Eastern States and in Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshadweep," informed Pon Radhakrishnan, Union Minister of state for road transport, highways and shipping.

Also, the DGS has lifted the ban on the conduct of post-sea modular courses and pre-sea general purpose rating course respectively to increase the number of Indian seafarers on board ships. The Indian Maritime University, Chennai, will improve the human resource pool in the merchant navy, ship design, ship building and repair, supply chain management, hydrography, marine engineering and technology, naval architecture and ocean engineering, etc.

Further, the Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Strategic Manufacturing Sector Council, will redesign and improve the syllabus and course content for various trades involving the entire gamut of shipbuilding operations.