Port Authority and Levanto join forces to train seamen

Antwerp Port Authority aims to train 16 job-seekers as merchant seamen this year in collaboration with the job training company Levanto. Participants in the programme do not need to have even basic knowledge of seafaring, as they will receive theoretical and practical training both from the Port Authority and from Levanto. Furthermore, they will be paid for the whole year of the programme. The first trainees will be ready to begin work as seamen in the spring of 2010.

Until now, there have been two channels through which most seamen are recruited: applications are accepted either from people who already have relevant experience (e.g. in barge transport), or from graduates of the KTA Zwijndrecht/Cenflumarin training centre on the left bank of the Scheldt. After a selection procedure the successful applicants can start work either in the Port Authority’s dredging and tugging service or on one of its floating cranes. During the initial stages they gain practical experience by being teamed up with experienced members of personnel on board the different vessels. However, recruitment through these two channels is no longer enough to meet the demand. There is already a shortage of 25 seamen within the Port Authority, and the number is expected to grow in the future.

People who wish to take part in the new training programme must have been in receipt of social security benefit for at least one year or have been unemployed for two years. Those interested can find out more at information sessions to be held on 16 February and 5 March in the large meeting room of the building on Quay 63. The Levanto contact persons for the programme are Marie-Jeanne Fierens and Elif Karademir, who can be reached at 03 620 1730. Information can also be found at www.levanto.be, and applications can be sent by e-mail to logistiek@levanto.be.

In addition to training new seamen, Antwerp Port Authority this year faces the challenge of filling a hundred or so vacancies in a wide range of fields. Additional members of personnel are necessary for the further renewal of our organisation and to compensate for natural wastage among the 1,650 employees. In the next few months the Port Authority will need people to fill technical, nautical, financial, IT and HR positions. Vacancies include jobs for electrical inspectors, seamen, tugboat captains, debt managers, application managers and HR assistants. A list of the most recent vacancies can be found at www.havenvanantwerpen.be/jobs.

Source: Antwerp Port Authority