MARAD urges seafarers to get licensed as demand grows for qualified personnel

More seafarers need to get licences so that they can take advantage of available opportunities in the sector. This is according to the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD).
The department, which falls under the Ministry of Public Works, is seeking to ensure all seafarers receive proper training as it relates to safety practices. It is currently engaging fisherfolk.
Registrar Superior of MARAD, Katina Benn, says the current engagement with fisherfolk seeks to have them aware of training opportunities available in the sector.

Speaking with this publication on Wednesday, she said that in Guyana, there are not enough qualified seafarers to meet the demand for personnel in the sector.
As such, the department is offering advanced training programmes sponsored by MARAD that seek to bridge that gap in terms of having more qualified seafarers in the sector.
The aim is to bring persons who have been in the sector with a particular category of licence and upgrade them to the next category of licence so that they can fill the various capacities that are available on ships,” Benn explained.
The training will become available within 2-3 weeks and will last between three months and six months, depending on the category.
“We have training opportunities available for the boat master Grades Three, Two and One. The boat master’s Grades Three and Two should last for approximately 3 months, and the boat master’s Grade One will last for six months… One of the foremost qualifications that they would need is the STCW training, which is the Basic Safety Training, and this training is offered at the AA Maritime Training Institute and the MatPal Marine Institute.
Benn said that the ministry is also looking at the possibility of having the STCW training funded by MARAD.
She pointed out that consultations with seafarers will determine whether the minister will go ahead and fund the STCW training.
Benn agreed that at facilities like the three-door landing site, you would seldom find qualified persons.
“But it is important that we have opportunities like this available for persons within all the regions of Guyana.”
On Wednesday, the department met with fishermen who operate from the three-door Sluice at D’Edward, West Coast Berbice, in Region Five, and on Thursday, they are expected to engage fisherfolk in New Amsterdam at the New Amsterdam Market Wharf.
Engagements are also planned for next week with fisherfolk at Linden on Thursday and Friday. Benn says they will also be meeting with fisherfolk in Georgetown and Mabaruma in Region One to have similar engagements.
Meanwhile, with many unlicensed operators working in the industry, Director of MARAD, Courtney McDonald, said this means that they were not trained. He pointed out that knowledge of safety practices at sea is of vital importance.
Safety training can save your life and your other colleagues on board. So, there should be an emergency pop-up. So, it is not just about you going to sea for the past 20 years and nothing happened. We have an old saying that we say, ‘nothing happened, nothing said’, but as a seafarer for the past 25 years, I can tell you it just takes one day for something to happen out there, and then that’s when you need all your experience and all your training, and this is where the safety training comes in important,” the MARAD Director explained.