Page 12 - Navik Jeevan_Ebook

Shipping has been the world’s first globalised industry. The shipping industry is
inherently international and serves nearly 90 per cent of global trade by carrying
huge quantities of cargo cost-effectively,
environment friendly and safely. Responding
to an increased pace of globalisation with
greater technological advances, shipping has India has a coastline of around 7,517
changed substantially in the last four decades. kms with 12 major ports and around 200
To achieve economies of scale larger ships were notified non-major ports. [1]
built for carrying oil and other raw materials so
as to keep the transportation costs low. Further,
modern container ships accommodate a larger
number of containers for carrying finished goods. With the advancement
in aviation industry, passenger shipping has greatly diminished. Now cruise
shipping is fast developing in a big way where large ships with all modern
amenities provide excellent holidays.

Indian Shipping Industry

According to UNCTAD Review of Maritime
Transport 2020 (Table 2.3 Ownership of
World Fleet), there are 1042 ships of Indian Among the major Indian ports, Deendayal
ownership (including 183 ships of foreign flag) Port handled the maximum Overseas
out of 52,961 ships accounting for 1.97% of the Cargo of 105.85 million tonnes; a share of
world fleet. [3] India has consistently provided 19.4% of the total Overseas Cargo handled
quality seafarers for national and international by Major ports in India during 2019-20. [2]
shipping. Indian seafarers, both officers and the
ratings are always in demand in the maritime
industry. ‘The four year period from 2013 to 2017 saw an unprecedented
growth of 42.3% shipboard jobs for Indian seafarers. The Indian seafarers
employed on ships worldwide increased from 1,08,446 in 2013 to 1,54,349 in
2017. India now provides 12% of the global seafarers and ranks third in the list
of the large seafarers supplying nation to the world maritime industry. [4] The
quality of our seafarers and the efficient functioning of the shipping industry
are extremely important if India has to remain one of the front leaders in the
global market. Therefore, the quality of maritime education and training in the
pre-sea sector becomes a critical issue. This survey is an attempt to capture
the views of seafarers from pre-sea to officer level. It is our expectation that
this study will provide insights to industry, academic institutions and other
stakeholders, that will be used for continual improvement in policymaking and
training.

While the Indian seafarer has made a place in the global shipping industry and
has been preferred as against other nationalities, it is imperative that he/she
continues to excel to maintain this privileged status. The maritime education
and training institutes have a significant responsibility in imparting knowledge,
developing skills, improving intellectual capabilities, inculcating values, and
developing a positive attitude in their students. All this has to be at a quality
acceptable at international levels. It is, therefore, necessary that the activities
of the maritime institutes are industry focused.

An Initiative of the Research and Training Committee- Supported by the
2 Indian National Shipowners’ Association Maritime Training Trust