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MALAYSIAN Maritime Academy (Alam),
a premier maritime training institute, has
recorded a 45% increase in its July intake to a
total of 531 students compared to the same
period last year.
Chief executive officer M. Adthisaya Ganesen
said of the number of students enrolled in July,
359 were Malaysians and 91 were foreigners.
“Eighty-one more foreign students will also join
the intake soon,” he said in an e-mail interview
with Starbiz.
He said of the 531 students, Alam had accepted
25 female cadets, making a total of 43 female
cadets undergoing training at the academy. Alam
started to enrolled female cadets since last
year.
Adthisaya said Alam could cater up to 550
students per intake.
In line with its growing enrolment, Alam has
also started to attract more sponsorship from
other shipping companies other than its parent
company, MISC Bhd.
“Alam has also experienced growing sponsorship
from other shipping companies including
international companies this year. Currently,
the contribution of shipping companies other
than MISC is about 23%.
“This July intake has seen new sponsors like
Hubline, Bumi Armada, Tanjong Offshore, Global
Carriers, V-ship, Anglo-Eastern, Yemen LNG and
Maritime Affairs & Authority of Yemen. With the
increased international promotions on Alam, we
have also seen self-sponsored cadets from India,
Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Kenya and Pakistan,” he
said.
He said more shipping companies were offering
sponsorship and training berths but the majority
was still unaware of its importance.
“In order to sustain business growth in the
maritime industry, shipping companies should
realise the importance investment in human
capital.
“Through this, they can chart their strategies
and initiatives to have the quality people to
achieve their targets. The least that shipping
companies can do is to provide shipping berths
onboard their vessel for the cadets’ practical
training,” he said.
Adthisaya said although MSIC Bhd dominated the
sponsorship programme, there was no special
quota for MISC group sponsorship.
MISC group consists of MISC Bhd, American Eagle
Tankers, Offshore Business Unit and Malaysia
Marine & Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd.
“It is on a first come first serve basis for all
clients and MISC is treated on par with any
other sponsor or client. Alam is open for all
companies (local and international) to sponsor
qualified students,” he said, adding that the
maritime industry still faced acute shortage of
manpower.
“It is not just the maritime sector but the
booming oil and gas (O&G) industry is also faced
with serious manpower drain with many mega
projects underway especially in the Middle East.
As the O&G and the maritime sectors are
intertwined, the shortage has resulted in marine
officers crossing over to the O&G sector, which
pays higher salaries, especially by
international operators.
“As a result, the shortage of marine officers
has become an intense problem and the
availability of competent local marine officers
will be even scarcer in the near future,” he
said.
In view of the shortage ahead, Adthisaya said
current prospect of becoming a seafarer was very
good as the demand for seafarers in Malaysia and
the rest of the world was high. “Malaysian
seafarers have a bright and secured career
compared to their contemporaries in other
professions. In Malaysia, the average starting
salary of a marine officer is over RM3,500, tax
free.
“This is almost twice the salary of a fresh
university graduate and there will be secured
employment upon completion of courses for any
cadets,” he said, adding that the difficulty was
selecting the right candidates as cadets.
“Malaysians who aspire to become marine officers
must possess strong credits in Mathematics,
Science/Physics, English Language and Bahasa
Melayu in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia.” |
