Page 8 - Annual Review 2020

Indian National Shipowners’ Association
en home. Despite challenges like these faculties forged ahead to provide the best quality education they could. Innovative strategies were required for assessments. DGS gave us guidelines. Modular courses were to be delivered via a three tier sys- tem - e-learning plus virtual classes plus online exit exams. We were directed to conduct virtual classes for Pre-sea and Competency Courses. Universities came up with different methodologies for assess- ment and they have been carried out.
The theory syllabus was completed, but we know that practical and workshop training is the most integral part of our curriculum. Both students and faculty lived for months in the lurking hope that any time soon the students will return to campus. Having now become smart about how to live with COVID-19, DGS has promulgated an SOP that is guiding us to safely move forward in these still very troubled times. Institutes have started bringing back students, in smaller batches, to campus tak- ing maximum precautions, so as to complete the course work.
An area which has definitely had its toll with no scope of recovering the time lost is the time slots of training berths. All those cadets who were on the brink of joining their assigned ship became victims of the hold on crew changes. As companies limp back to a new way of life, cadets are being taken aboard; unfortunately many cadets are going to be faced with the delays to their professional career. A DGS order was issued to allow final year students to join ships for on board training without complet- ing their workshop training. A new certificate was designed to make this possible.
Seafarers are going back to sea without any hin- drance related to the validity of COCs, COPs and STCW Chapter V, VI certificates as they have been granted extensions till December 31, 2021. The conduct of oral examination for COC’s has resumed through Microsoft Teams and work is underway to develop a system for the conduct of online written examination for COCs. The Engineering COC reval- idation course has been revamped and is being de- livered by a two tier system of Virtual classes plus Online Exit exams. The Nautical COC course has been dispensed with for revalidation of COCs. Dan- gerous Cargo Endorsements are now completely on-line.
Admissions for the academic year 2020-2021 also saw an interesting journey. No road shows, no cen- ters for examination all around the country, no sit- ting face to face for an interview. Yet we managed with the help of technology to reach out to more numbers than usual, at times with more interactions than usual and come out relatively unaffected by COVID-19 on the admissions front. May be this is because it has been recognized by many as one of the few industries that continued to function
through the pandemic. For the families of some stu- dents the economic slowdown has placed undue burden on them as they continue to support their child/ward through maritime education.
Technology support to the industry took the biggest test of times and showed us how so much is pos- sible even without person to person contact and without paper; one could never have imagined that we would rely on an electronic Bill of Lading. One of the first steps was to make sure that everyone had the hardware to support their work and was reliably connected. All the offices that have been able to work effectively from home must be ‘Paperless’ to- day. We have all successfully conducted numerous on-line meetings from the comfort of our home/of- fice with members of our own company, with INSA, with DGS, MOS and even internationally. I wonder in the future whether we would spend time and money to travel distances for routine meetings. On- line ship registrations and on-line charter licensing have been put into place. Issuance of certificates and passes cannot go back to the traditional ways. We will likely see more on this front. On-line educa- tion has been an innovative journey and has scope for improvement; under defined circumstances it could be here to stay. Webinars have made it easier to participate in a conference, a workshop, a lec- ture etc. Issuance of E-learning certificates for Mod- ular courses have crossed 100,000. Undoubtedly cyber security will play a big role in our attempt to go totally “Paperless” and remain connected elec- tronically.
Victims of COVID-19, health care providers, the airline industry, the cruise industry and many busi- ness houses have suffered tremendously during this pandemic. Even though we have been far less affected, we have had our share of struggles. I think we will come out stronger, a little smarter and defi- nitely more compassionate as we continue to ride this wave. There are many unanswered questions – when will this end, will it end, will the vaccine ever be produced, how many will get the vaccine, will it be effective. Till we don’t have these answers we must live smartly, wearing appropriate PPE when- ever we step out of our house or are in contact with another, practice social distancing and frequent hand washing and leave home only when absolute- ly necessary.
To safely and efficiently navigate the globe, the shipping industry needs to be well regulated with the spokes of its wheel well lubricated and mov- ing in synchrony. Despite all odds, I must say the industry has proven its mettle. Therefore, though unfortunately due to a pandemic, I hope the world has come to appreciate the importance of shipping and that countries across the globe will invest more in the health and wellbeing of our industry.
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