MASSA upgrades existing maritime training infrastructure

Nov 17 2017


India’s Maritime Association of Shipowners Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) has upgraded its maritime training infrastructure at its existing Chennai-based academy.

This was achieved with the support of The Maritime Floating Staff Welfare Trust – an Indian Trust that provides support & assistance to Indians working in foreign shipping companies registered with leading Indian shipping bodies.

MMA Chennai is operated on a no-profit-no loss basis by MASSA. 

Addressing an audience of Indian maritime industry leaders gathered at MMA Chennai, Amitabh Kumar, Additional Director General of Shipping (Government of India) expressed his strong desire to raise the global share of Indian seafarers to at least 1.8 mill in the next two years through the teaching of skills and academic initiatives.

In his speech, he also spoke about the importance of ‘quality’ of maritime education currently undertaken in India. He said, “Indeed, it will be a challenge to come up with a uniform syllabus, course content and examination system in India.”

With 12% of the world’s population, India has just 7% of the seafarers market, while Philippines with just 2% of the world’s population has grabbed 20% of the global share.

The government’s prime focus is on increasing the global share of Indian seafarers through a skills initiatives in association with shipping associations. Also as India’s GDP is expected to grow around 7% in the future, the employment for Indian students in the merchant navy is expected to rise phenomenally in the years to come, MASSA said.  



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