Question : Seafarers

(a) whether the Government is awareof any shortage of skilled/trained seafarersvis-a-vis their requirements in the country;
(b) if so, the details thereof along withthe reasons therefor;
(c) whether there is any restriction inallowing private players to open training
institutes for seafarers in the country; and
(d) if so, the reasons therefor along withthe corrective measures taken/being takenby the Government to enhance the skills ofseafarers and availability of trainedseafarers in the country?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SHIPPING
(SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)

(a)&(b):Directorate General of Shipping (DGS) regulates maritime training under the provisions of Merchant Shipping Act, 1958. Adequate infrastructure is available to train the seafarers in India. As per records with Directorate General of Shipping, out of total approved intake capacity of 15524 of pre-sea courses, the approved institutes could fill up only 10664 seats in 2013, 11327 in 2014 and 10425 in the year 2015.

(c)&(d):At present, there is a ban on opening of new maritime training institute/increase in intake capacity of pre-sea courses except in the North Eastern States, because of overcapacity and unemployment of existing trained seafarers.

The DGS has introduced and implemented a unique inspection regime i.e. the Comprehensive Inspection Programme (CIP) to monitor and control the quality of such training under Rule, 75 of the Merchant Shipping (STCW) Rule, 2014. Under this programme all maritime training institutes are inspected and graded by the recognised classification societies and the grading of the institutes is displayed on the Government website. Further, the DGS has introduced an online training programme for all Indian seafarers free of cost which provides high quality course content, audio-visual media, mock-test and online tutorial facility to the Indian seafarers to constantly upgrade their skill.
*****