Maritime agency seeks Sh8 billion to set up seafarers training centre

Maritime workers at an event in Mombasa last year to mark the World Maritime Day. PHOTO | FILE 

By George Omondi

In Summary

• The campaign to set up a specialised institution in Mombasa to train seafarers and land-based maritime transporters comes nearly seven years after the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) put Kenya on its White List for maritime training.

The Kenya Maritime Authority is seeking Sh8.31 billion from the Treasury to set up a specialised training institution for seafarers.

If approved in the 2015/16 budget, the agency says Sh2 billion will be used to buy 20-acre land, develop infrastructure and buy training facilities for the proposed National Maritime College.

Another Sh4 billion is earmarked for acquiring and operating a small training ship for the institution while Sh1.31 billion will be set aside as seafarers’ training fund to, among other things, finance the hiring of foreign instructors.

“For the maritime sector to perform well there must be a pool of qualified personnel both on land and at sea,” KMA says in its proposal seen by Shipping & Logistics.

“Currently there is a shortage of qualified human resource which calls for immense investment in maritime education and training.”

The agency adds: “Jobs in the maritime sector are well-paying compared to other industries but the training involves sea time or practical work on board a vessel.”

The campaign to set up a specialised institution in Mombasa to train seafarers and land-based maritime transporters comes nearly seven years after the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) put Kenya on its White List for maritime training. This list contains states that are cleared by IMO to offer maritime training.

KMA currently partners with a number of middle-level colleges and universities to provide maritime courses. It worked with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to develop a national training curriculum, teaching guides and student manuals.

The curriculum marked a critical step in Kenya’s bid to create a pool of experts amid growing demand for professionals in the maritime industry.

The agency says the National Maritime College which it controls — rather than universities with different charters — would make it easier to monitor the quality of courses.

The demand for well-trained and skilled personnel is set to rise after the government started work on its portion of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPPSET) corridor which among other things, seeks have 32 additional berths at the Coast.

The KMA says: “ The establishment of maritime training institutions will increase opportunities for the wider Kenyan population while training vessels simultaneously engaged in coastal trading are viable investment opportunities worth paying serious attention to.”

The quality of training, the agency says will guarantee provision of reliable and efficient shipping and commercial maritime services that can enhance the competitiveness of the country’s exports in the international markets.

The agency also says in its pitch that a pool of skilled manpower will also attract foreign direct investment in shipping and maritime transport activities, ranging from ship building to financing and regulation.