“Are we doing enough to promote and encourage career and skills development in the maritime sector for
Singaporeans?”

This was the question posed to the audience by SMOU Executive Secretary Ms Mary Liew at the Tripartite Forum on Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) at the Straits Times Index (STI) Auditorium on 21 July 2010.

Highlighting SMOU’s concerns in two main areas: ‘Manning and Career and Skill Development’, and ‘Opportunities for Seafarers’ Employment’, Ms Liew questioned if there are sufficient personnel for the safe, efficient and secure operation of ships.

 “Are our seafarers exposed to excessive work hours and not given sufficient time to rest? Most of the
accidents that happen on board, could they be due to fatigue faced by our seafarers?” she asked.

Addressing the career and skills development of Singaporeans to encourage them to take up seafaring careers, Ms Liew urged and appealed for a legislation mandate of one cadet training berth per Singapore registered vessel for Singaporeans. In furtherance to her appeal, Regulation 2.8 of the ILO MLC was cited.

It states that “Each member shall have national polices to promote employment in the maritime sector and to encourage career and skill development and greater employment opportunities for seafarers domiciled in its territory.”

In the Tripartite Nautical Training Award (TNTA) – a collaborative joint effort between NTUC’s Employment & Employability Institute (e2i), the Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), Singapore Shipping Association (SSA), Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA) and Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), Ms Liew illustrated one such initiative which encourages Singaporeans to take up seafaring as a career.