'Training' to meet high demand for VN seamen

With a coastline of 3,260 kilometres and a population of near-|ly 90 million, Vietnam is con-sidered to be in an ideal position |for maritime transport, said |captain Tieu Van Kinh, chair-|man of the club. This was why the marine economy was regarded as |a major force in the national |economy.
The promotion of maritime transport would speed up economic development throughout the country, Kinh said. But to achieve the goal, it was important to train highly skilled human resources, the chairman said.
The Department of Overseas Labour said Vietnam had been hiring out its seamen overseas since 1992. Forty local companies had sent more than 18,000 crewmembers to work on vessels owned by Japanese, South Korean, Tai-wanese and mainland Chinese companies.
Vietnam also sends many crewmembers to work on foreign fishing vessels where they can earn between US$250 and $600 (Bt7,700-Bt18,400) a month.
The local labour export association said foreign shipping companies had high demand for Viet-namese, but the nation could only supply 30 to 50 per cent of the demand. Many of the overseas workers joined fishing vessels.
The Vietnam Maritime Admin-istration said that from 2010 to 2015, the country could train about 4,800-5,000 maritime officers and 8,000-8,500 crewmembers.
But Dang Van Uy, rector of Vietnam Maritime University, |said it was not easy to train such a large number of crewmembers because of the shortage of qualified education.
Uy said several foreign shipping companies had offered scholarships and jobs to students who would later work for them.
To Van Long, deputy director |of UT-STC Human Resources Training Marine Co, said his company had trained 260 outstanding students on such scholarships in the past six years.
Vu Van Tai, vice chairman of Ho Chi Minh City Marine Science and Economics, said the state should increase investment in training facilities and create preferential policies to encourage organisations and individuals to get involved in training.
Tai said local training schools should expand cooperation with maritime countries to develop |more joint-venture training |models.