Employment of Indian seafarers grows by 35 pc

New Delhi [India], Feb 18 (ANI): The shipping sector has witnessed a growth of 35 per cent in the number of Indian seafarers employed on Indian or foreign flag vessels this year, the government said on Monday.
As per an official statement, the figure rose from 1,54,349 in 2017 to 2,08,799 in 2018. Along with this, the number of students placed for onboard training also increased from 14,307 last year to 19,545 this year, showing a jump of nearly 37 per cent.
"The number of seafarers employed on Indian flag vessels increased from 22,103 last year to 27,364 this year, while the employment figures on foreign vessels went up from 60,194 to 72,327during the same period," it said.
"The total number of officers employed increased from 60,194 in 2017 to 72,327 in 2018 while the number of ratings during the period also increased from 72,052 to 109,108," the statement read.
The training curriculum for the officers and the ratings were revised in 2016 not only to meet the global standards but also to meet the expectations of the foreign employers.
To regulate the training institutes working in private sector, a system of ‘Comprehensive Inspection Programme’ (CIP) was designed to assess the quality of the Institute on various parameters such as infrastructure, quality of students’ intake, quality of faculty, pedagogy, performance in examination, onboard training and placement of students.     
A policy shift was also made by holding the training institutes responsible for onboard ship training of the students also and not only for the classroom training.
To release more onboard ship training slots, it was decided to allow onboard training of officers and ratings on tugs and offshore vessels also. These two initiatives have opened an additional berth for nearly 4,000 trainees.  (ANI)