Page 13 - Navik Jeevan_Ebook

Career at sea

Ships are high value assets that require technically and commercially
competent crew to operate them with minimal accidents or breakdowns in a
cost effective manner.

Ship operations include loading and discharging the cargo from the ship,
navigating it from one port to another, operating and maintaining different
types of machinery fitted on the ship, taking care of the ship, cargo, people
and marine environment while the ship is in operation. A ship has different
types of machinery on board, main propulsion engine, electrical power
generation and distribution system, steam generation, freshwater generation
system, sewage treatment plant, and many other associated systems and
machinery. The cargo operations also are of different types. While oil cargoes
are pumped in or out of the ship, cranes on the ship lift containerised cargoes,
bulk cargoes like iron ore or coal etc., are loaded by a system of conveyor
belts. It can therefore be appreciated that staff on board needs to be trained
in all these varied areas.

The ships’ complement is divided into three categories namely nautical officers,
engineering officers and ratings. Without exceptions all crew members must
be appropriately trained and certified. The certificates are referred to as
certificates of competency and certificates of proficiency and are awarded by
the government of the country in which the seafarer was trained and assessed.

Industry Requirements

The mandatory requirements regarding training and certification for different
positions on board a merchant ship stem from STCW Convention 1978, as
amended. This is the minimum acceptable level of competency required to
serve on ships. However, the shipping industry requirements are higher than
these and include greater professionalism, dedication, commitment, and sound
technical knowledge and skills. There is also a constant need to upgrade one’s
skills and competency to remain globally competitive.

The performance of Indian officers and ratings
in the last three decades has been excellent. Among the Non-Major Ports, Gujarat
However, new nationalities are now competing Maritime Board (GMB) handled the
to enter the international market and share a maximum Overseas Cargo of 364.90
bigger slice of the pie. These include China, million tonnes with a share of 70.0% of
Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar, and many the total Oversea Cargo handled by Non-
East European countries. Officers and ratings major ports in India during 2019-20. [5]
from these countries are able to work for
comparatively lower wages. It has now therefore
become necessary that Indian officers and ratings perform better than before
and improve their quality of work. Hence it is essential to synchronise with
the requirements of the shipping industry and bridge the gaps as necessary.

Many of the organisations state that college graduates tend to have unrealistic
expectations about organisational life, job responsibility, etc. Some of these

Navik Jeevan Survey 2021 3