Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA), the National Trades Union Congress’ (NTUC) e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) has announced the launch of a new Certificate of Competency (CoC) Class 4 Master and Chief Engineer (Special Limit) programmes.
Mr Gilbert Tan, Chief Executive Officer, e2i, announced the new CoC Class 4 (Special Limit) programmes at the graduation ceremony for the CoC Class 5 (Special Limit) programmes.
Aim:
The new programmes aim to deepen the skills of seafarers so that they could progress in their careers to become Masters and Chief Engineers.
About the course:
- The new two-and-half-month CoC Class 4 (Special Limit) programmes will comprise management-level core modules and short courses that will equip the officers with management skills to prepare them for leadership positions.
- To qualify, the officer must possess a CoC Class 5 (Special Limit) qualification and two years sea experience.
- Upon completion of the course, the officer could become masters of ships of up to 5,000 gross tonnage (GT) operating within Singapore’s “Special Limit” or about 30 nautical miles from Singapore’s port. For Chief Engineers, they could be fully in-charge of propulsion units and other machinery on board ships.
MPA, e2i, and WDA have set aside about $1.4 million for the programmes and target to train up to 100 Class 4 (Special Limit) Masters and Chief Engineers up till April 2018. The programmes will be conducted by Singapore Maritime Academy.
Mr Andrew Tan, Chief Executive of MPA, said, “We are glad to introduce the new programmes as part of the efforts spearheaded by the Sectoral Tripartite Committee (STC) for Transport (Sea). In line with SkillsFuture initiative, the new programmes will not only provide career progression for our seafarers but also deepen their skills for leadership positions. We will continue to develop high-quality training that respond to evolving needs of the industry.”
Mr Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive of WDA, said: “The new COC Class 4 certification programmes is designed to enable local seafarers to develop deep skills, secure good jobs, further progress in their careers and prepare them for leadership positions. This is in line with the national SkillsFuture movement. We would like to encourage local seafarers to embrace lifelong learning and to strive towards skills mastery.”
A total of 57 cadets graduated from the Deck Officer and Marine Engineer (Special Limit) training programmes. First introduced in 2011, the CoC (Special Limit) programmes prepare seafarers to serve on board ships operating up to the “Special Limit” near Singapore. Developed in close consultation with industry players like the Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), the programmes allows seafarers to enjoy the flexibility of serving shorter voyages while addressing the manpower needs of the maritime industry.
Source: MPA
