Maritime training institutes in India are in for some big business -- worth close to Rs 20 crore (Rs 200 million) -- in the next 10 months.
The cost of a 3-day certificate course in India being a third of what it costs elsewhere in the world, maritime training institutes in India expect to do good business in the coming months. A three-day course costs around Rs10,000 in India.
The new International Ship and Port Security Code, recommended by the International Maritime Organisation, which is slated to come into force on July 1, 2004, expects every ship in the world to have one security officer. India is one of the countries that offer this security officer training course.
As part of increased security measures in ships and ports, ISPSC requires all of 46,000 ships in the world to have a ship security officer to oversee the safety standards inside the seafaring ships.
This apart the ports and shipping companies around the world should also have one trained and certified security officer on their rolls. IMO has a member-base of 162 countries.
The heightened security requirement has come in the wake of September 11 attack on the World Trade Center.
K Vivekanand, the director of Academy of Maritime Education and Training, Chennai, said presently there were only 10 qualified institutes in India to churn out security officers for ports, ships and shipping companies. There were over 120 maritime training institutes in India.
"We expect close to 20,000 officers to be trained in India before July 1, 2004. Without the participation of the private sector, this is going to be an uphill task," he said.
The government is yet to allow private training institutes to offer this certificate course.
He further said that due to their superior quality, the Indian maritime officers are preferred in many foreign ships.
According to Vivekanand, around 12,000 Indian marine officers are working in foreign flag ships. If any of these officers chooses to work for an Indian ship, it is mandatory that they must be trained in India.
"This rule is applicable only to Indian ships. However to work in a foreign flag ship they can be trained anywhere in the world," he added.