NTC-M seeks more Government Support

The Norwegian Training Center-Manila (NTC-M) under the Norwegian Maritime Foundation of the Philippines is asking Government to improve its support and commitment to the educational sector and infrastructure, as well as inject more funds and resources to further develop its seafaring and manning industry.

NTC-M said the lack of such support have held down the country to post almost stagnant growth rate in the past two decades.

Quantity seems still to be more important than Quality!

NTC-M, meanwhile, is currently in partnership with 5 maritime Colleges/Universities in the Philippines, and support their cadets through the “NSA Philippine Cadet Program”. . A four-year education and training programs, which now is into its 18th year of operation, leading up to a Bachelor Degree in Marine Transportation or Marine Engineering.
The Norwegian Ship Owners Association (NSA) is spending approximately USD 25,000 per cadet over the four year program, a cost which is fully covered by their scholarship program and additional contribution from the Norwegian Ship owners participating.

Over the last 18 years approximately 4000 cadets have been enrolled to the program with a success rate of more than 97%. This is in comparison to the 6-8% success rate for regular Philippine Cadets!

In an interview, NTC-M Managing Director Mr. Stein Eriksen explained that if the Philippine Government, along with the other stakeholders in the maritime industry continue to ignore this problem, the country could be loosing out as the seafaring capital of the world in the future. This is not a question of lacking talents among the Cadets, but a question of lacking infrastructure to bring out their talents.

Eriksen added that Government through first of all the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) and the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), together with vessel owners and operators should work hand in hand to correct this menace and maintain the country as the ‘seafarer of choice’ for the worlds global fleet.

“Overall, the Philippine manning and seafaring industry has been too slow in the past 18-20 years,” Eriksen stressed. It appears that we still are discussing the same issues….

“What we are proposing is that the Philippines should address their problems in order to produce quality seafarers and not just producing a high quantity of seafarers,” Eriksen said.

“Government should concentrate and allocate more resources to support the few Quality Schools and their Cadets, and ensure better implementation of the STCW requirements through closing down a high number of sub-standard educational institutions.

Maritime education are not for amateurs and should not become a “left hand” easy income for anyone , even in the Philippines,” Eriksen explained.

He further added that the graduates of the country’s maritime schools have been and will continue to be underutilized due to the competency issues.

As of the moment, the country has 95 maritime schools that enroll an estimated 50,000 to 60,000 Cadets annually, wherein only 25-30%% makes it through the required 3 academic school years. Thereafter another 50% disappear due to lack of sea service, and out of the remaining candidates only 50% makes it through their PRC Licensure examination.

Instead, Eriksen proposed that the Philippines should strive to reduce the number of Maritime schools to drastically increase the quality of those left. 10.000 quality graduates a year would be the medicine this industry desperately need, and I’m convinced that ship owners all over the world will open up for more Cadet slots onboard if they were assured of their quality potential.

“The shipping industry does not need 60,000 graduates or Officers annually,” Eriksen stressed. “What the world needs is perhaps 10,000 annually, having good maritime competence and knowledge as basis to further build their skills required to serve onboard.

For the past four decades, the country remained as the number one supplier of seafarers to international ocean-going vessels.

During the 1970s and early 1980s deployment rates is more than 10% and reaches as high as 16%.
However, in the late 1980 and up to now, deployment rate has been drastically reduced to only about 3% a year.
“It is high time for the Philippine Government to react, otherwise, this main challenge will really negatively impact the Philippines in the future. ?