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Hats off to Panama's bright young things
(Lloyds List Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) ORLANDO Allard, rector of the International Maritime University of Panama, is beaming with delight after an intense round of talks with some of the top European based shipping chiefs.
'This is a win-win situation,' says the former diplomat, ship's master and Panama Canal pilot. 'What we are doing coincides exactly with the needs of the world's maritime industry.
'The industry is short of qualified people, and we are beginning to make them available.'
Capt Allard, a one-time ambassador of Panama to the International Maritime Organization, is now grooming envoys of a different kind: young men and women who will shine as ambassadors for Panamanian seafaring, and for the country's enhanced role in maritime scholarship.
Right now, there are 462 of them. They enrol at the age of 18 and graduate four years later.
'A merchant marine officer must above all be a leader, he or she must be responsible, disciplined and self-assured, and be willing to live away from their families for extended periods of time,' Capt Allard says. 'This is in no way military, but in the maritime industry the chain of command is very important.'
Whenever he can, Capt Allard takes along some of his enthusiastic students. 'It is not me who is selling the university, it is them,' he says.
With a goldmine of talent being nurtured at the educational institution. Capt Allard, who enjoys substantial support from the government of Panama for his initiatives, can hardly put a foot wrong.
He finds the same story everywhere. Representatives of all kinds of industry bodies are making the same plea: send us your best young people as quickly as you can.
Capt Allard's pride in the new Universidad Maritime Internacional de Panama, for which he was one of the leading advocates over the years, has reached a new peak.
Typical of the reaction from the wider industry was the response of the 15 people he met at Anave, the Association of Spanish Shipowners. After his presentation, the audience agreed that the owners of Spanish flag tonnage certainly do have a problem. Many of the ships' officers who seek to serve them are inadequately trained.
'I walked out of that meeting on cloud nine,' recalls Capt Allard. 'I immediately called Panama and said: We had better get a move on.'
Spanish flag ships must be crewed with Spanish nationals, but if UMIP is recognised by Spain it could be permitted to supply its graduates for employment. In turn, that kind of recognition could open the portals wider in many countries.
Spanish employers are among several groups and individual enterprises worldwide exploring the establishment of a relationship with the university.
At the same time, the university is working with Royal Caribbean after the group chose Panama as a home port, thanks to negotiations with the then administrator of the Panama Maritime Authority, Ruben Arosemena. The group has expressed its readiness to set up a scheme which would ensure both first class training, and the opportunity for cadets to stay on, after obtaining their sea-time, as officers and eventually masters, with a vision that one day cruiseships sailing out of Panama would be fully-crewed by Panamanians.
Capt Allard identifies a tendency for all the major companies to change the way they are looking at crews, trying to get more commitment from the officers to the company, to get them to know the company better and stay longer with the ability to reach higher command positions.
In the end, it all translates into safety and lower budget costs.
'We have an agreement with major shipping companies that are offering our cadets a three-year contract. That will be one year of sea training and two years as licensed officers,' Capt Allard says.
'Awareness of the problem in the shipping industry is growing. There is said to be a deficit of 10,000 people, and I believe that is going to double in a matter of years. All this is happening so quickly, and we just do not have the people, especially in the technical areas.
'I can assure you that the same is bound to happen with the human resources required in other areas of the transport chain, if the correct emphasis is not placed on training.'
The university is the successor to the former nautical school, where the number of cadets was dwindling because few could see real jobs at the end of the line.
'This has changed dramatically,' says Capt Allard. 'We have managed to place on ships all the cadets that required training, and we are finding jobs for the officers.
'Young Panamanians are seeing now that there is a future in the industry, but we need to talk to people face to face. I knew there was a great need for recruits, but it is comforting to hear if from the shipowners themselves.'
The university is taking a lead by drawing up a database of its alumni available for work. Reputable companies are being assigned a password and click on the name of a cadet to see his or her resume, after which they can contact the university to arrange an interview.
Companies including Evergreen, Cosco, El Cano, Tidewater, MOL and and Maritima del Norte have been hiring half a dozen here, a couple there, but the potential is much wider, and the International Chamber of Shipping is getting ready to lend a hand.
Interest has come too from the independent tanker owners' association, Intertanko, which has said that worries over lack of accommodation on ships for cadets are groundless. In fact, it found that at least 80% of memberships to have appropriate accommodations, which seems to open a great opportunity for UMIP's generation.
'All this has underlined that it is important to strengthen the academic programme,' Capt Allard says. 'We have added at least 15 courses for the cadets so that they are equipped with the theoretical and practical competencies to work aboard any type of ship to contribute to the operation of the ship rather than just to learn by observing. '
UMIP offers courses on ship documentation, maritime medicine, accident investigation, emergency response, and the different types of ship. 'We have to respond constantly: every time we reach an agreement with a company, they come forward with new requirements,' Capt Allard says.
'We have invited outside lecturers, such as representatives from the International Labour Organisation, the International Transport Workers' Federation, shipping companies and port operators, so that the students learn about labour relations.'
The students are instructed on ship-handling by means of Panama's Sidmar Center simulators, linking theory and practice. Cosco has donated an engineroom based on a post-panamax ship.
The young men and women spend a great deal of time on the Panama Canal training vessel Atlas and other craft. Some cadets and instructors have been sent to visit US academies and serve on sailing ships, to broaden their experience.
When they do find work, if they are waiting for their ship the university sends them to thermo-electrical plants, railroads, ports and shipping agencies so they became familiar with how the shore side works.
In 2006, the academy had 290 students, but it is now moving towards 500, and there are 1,500 applications for the academic year beginning February 2008.
Why Panama? For one thing, no matter how much the European nations are doing, their young people generally remain reluctant to go to sea. There are cultural reasons, too.
'By nature, Panamanians are very open-minded and get along with everyone. They come from a multicultural background, and people are happy to meet them,' Capt Allard says.
Copyright 2007 Informa Maritime Trade and Transport , Source: The Financial Times Limited
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