MAN 2021 Cadet Graduation: FG urged to partner indigenous ship owners

A Maritime expert Engr. Adeyinka Okunade, has observed that indigenous ship owners in Nigeria have over the years struggled on their own, prompting his call on the federal government to put in place measures to encourage indigenous ship owners to own deep-sea Boeing Vessels to aid career development for seafarers in the country.

Such measures, he believed would provide backup for indigenous ship owners to either get loans or get recognized by shipbuilders to empower them to advance deep-sea businesses and training in the country.

The observations were made by the National President of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES) during the 2021 Cadets Graduation Lectures by Maritime Academy of Nigeria on the theme; “Seafarers and shipping career development path after school-based training” in Oron on Monday.

He, therefore, called for a holistic approach to enable the graduating Cadets to acquire a sufficient level of practical experience.

Presenting a paper on “Analysis of Seafarers Career Opportunities: the Nigerian and Global situations”, he urged the Federal Government to continue the training of Cadets as well as encourage ship owners to expand businesses to make room for the Cadets to have on-board experiences in the deep-sea, may amount to nothing.

“Government should talk to ship owners. There are many ways of acquiring a ship. The government can give ship owners the backup to be able to either access loans or get recognized by shipbuilders to build ships for them, or to acquire these ships.

“China and all other countries are helping their people. There is no country that would advance without shipping.

“In Nigeria, we do not have a sufficient number of ships. and the kind of ships we are talking about for these cadets are not just coaster ships, they are Deep Sea Boeing Vessels that could go from here to Canada, the Uk, and other countries of the world.

“We used to have the Nigeria National Shipping Line, but that company was liquidated and has not been replaced. That is where people like us were trained on those ships. We didn’t have a problem with career development because as soon as you finished college, the ship would be waiting. I even used to be an Engineer instructor aboard one of those ships.

“By liquidating those companies, we might have liquidated the whole country, because what they were accusing the companies of doing is still ongoing in Nigeria – that is corruption.

“What this country should do now is to call the ship owners, dialogue with them, find out ways they could be encouraged and supported. Not necessarily putting down money, but if they have a Federal Government guarantee, they can acquire ships. If you don’t acquire these ships, you are just educating these cadets for nothing’s sake”. he said in a side-line interview.

Okunade who reported to have received testimonies of the massive transformation recorded by the Rector of the Academy, Commodore Duja Effedua (Rtd), and his team, acknowledged that the Academy has been repositioned to prepare the cadets for challenges in the real world.

“I will now join your streams of prophets to be spreading the good news about the Academy”. he said

Also presenting a lecture on Standards of training, certificate and watchkeeping (STCW), Mandatory Sea-going Service Opportunities and Documentation Requirements, the Secretary-General of the Abuja Memorandum of Understanding on Port State Control, Captain Sunday Umoren said the training was meant to prepare the cadets to make their individual contributions to the safety of all on board.

He reminded the Cadets that Maritime training was regimented to structure, set them apart, and prepare them for life at sea.

Umoren who congratulated the cadets for passing through a system that not just teach, but also drilled them on industries best practices and certifications, added; “You are very fortunate to be taken through this training. In our time, passing out parade was just what it’s called, nobody prepares you for the future”.

Setting the tone earlier, the Director, Specialised Seafarers Training Centre, Dr. Kelvin Okonna said the theme of the training was targeted at helping in career development for the Cadets as they exited the Academy.