Seafarers’ union pledges $1.2M training aid to employers

The Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) recently pledged $1.2 million in aid to encourage more employers to provide shipboard training for seafaring cadets.

The fund will be rolled out over two years and local shipping companies can expect to receive $5,000 for each Singaporean cadet it takes on from two existing training initiatives – the Tripartite Engineering Training Aware (TETA) and Tripartite Nautical Training Award (TNTA).

According to a report by ChannelNewsAsia, the TNTA and TETA are tripartite initiatives introduced in 2010 and 2016 respectively, as skills training programmes for Singaporeans looking to transition to the maritime industry and work on board commercial ships.

SMOU added that funding support for course fees and training allowances will continue to be supported by SkillsFuture Singapore and be heavily co-subsidised by Workforce Singapore and the Employment and Employability Institute (e2i). 

The organisation said it expects more than 200 cadets to benefit from the new funding scheme as it “gives them the opportunity to have the training they require in order to move on to become full-fledged officers in the future”.

“Faced with the prolonged volatile economic situation, shipping companies may naturally take cost-saving measures such as cutting down on training. We are trying to reduce that as we need qualified seafarers to maintain a strong Singaporean core," said Mary Liew, general secretary of SMOU to ChannelNewsAsia.

Minister for Education Ong Ye Kung was also on hand when SMOU presented their funding scheme and said that the current economic climate is the perfect opportunity for companies to invest in human capital.

“There is a case to be made that now is the right time to push forward to further develop our Singapore core in the industry, to prepare for the upturn,” he said.