Shipping majors come as boon

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Apr 2008

With agriculture no longer being a lucrative option in Punjab, various shipping majors scouting the region for cadets and officers to ensure profitable running of merchant navy ventures have come as a boon to the youth. Reeling under an acute crunch of quality seafarers, with industry estimating shortage of about 500-700 officers, the shipping industry is eyeing the region to tap the raw and sturdy talent available here.
According to Capt Bhagat Singh, president, Merchant Navy Officers Association, Chandigarh, “Importantly, tier-2 cities like Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Chandigarh are on shipping companies’ agenda.” Interestingly, reason behind the new-found love for northern region is an obvious fact that the metros have reached a saturation point as far as recruitment of seafarers is concerned. Therefore, shipping majors are left with no choice but to head towards Punjab and Haryana.
S Hajara, chairman, Shipping Corporation of India, during his recent visit to Chandigarh, informed The Times of India that the talent crunch, stemming from poor image coupled with narrowing of salary gap between onshore and offshore personnel, was eating into the vitals of the industry.
Apart from this, problems plaguing the industry were discussed at a meet initiated by Mitsui OSK Lines Maritime India (MOLMI) in Chandigarh recently. MOLMI is a subsidiary of MOL (Mitsui OSK Lines), which is one of the world’s largest shipping company operating a diversified fleet of 850 vessels.
Company’s top official Capt Abhijit Chattopadhay too sounded enthusiastic about the region’s prospects as a potential source of seafarers. He said, “My company would definitely look forward to hiring people from Punjab.”
A few months back, another shipping major Dohle-Danautic India, had announced its desire to tap Punjabi talent and register a stronger presence in north India so as to hardsell seafaring to the region’s youths.
Sheila Anand, a merchant navy analyst, said that various maritime training institutes too had set up shops in the region in anticipation of shipping majors zooming in on the state.

Source: The Economic Times