WHERE THE OCEAN IS THE LIMIT

Last month East Timorese ship officer Gina Soares Turquel de Jesus graduated at the PNG Maritime College in Madang after a year of studies.

She was the only female officer amongst male colleagues from PNG, East Timor and the South Pacific Islands aspiring for higher qualifications from this fast expanding maritime institution.

Gina, a Mate Three officer of the Watch, is employed by Perkins Shipping Company in East Timor and is based in Darwin.

She is among a growing number of officers attending the college which is the only one in the Pacific, outside of Australia and New Zealand that trains maritime officers to the highest level of class one.

The college has announced plans to embark on an ambitious K45 million development programme. The programme which will commence soon after donor funds are secured will enable the college to upgrade and expand its facilities to world class standards and to increase students’ intake.

A proposal has been put through PNG’s Office of Higher Education to source funding through the Okinawa Initiative.

The college has already secured an adjoining piece of government property next to the campus for its development plans.

The development projects will include a survival training centre complete with a swimming pool to teach safety at sea, new lecture theatres, two dormitory accommodation for 200 persons, new workshops, the relocation of the fire fighting centre, a new library with e-learning facilities and female accommodation.

Under the leadership of Principal Richard Coleman, the college has started the groundwork by fencing and clearing the area, refurbishing the old water tanks and setting up fire fighting equipment.

The college’s expansion began in 1997/98 under the direction of former principal Noel Snelleksz with a K12 million funding from AusAid and the PNG government to install equipment to train officers to Class One. Class One is the highest qualification and it qualifies an officer to master any ship size throughout the world.

In 2002/2003 the growth continued when K6.8 million was secured from the PNG Incentive Fund to build up infrastructure to double student intakes.

The college also received new recreational facilities as well as a modern kitchen and mess facilities. Equipment was also upgraded to the latest technology.

A notable acquisition was the ship operation simulators on which navigators can gain sea experience without being at sea. This included a state of the art device, the GMDSS which is a radar and radio tracking system for surveillance at sea.

The college is accredited to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO),which is a division of the United Nations and is audited every five years. It passed its last audit in 2006.

Principal Richard Coleman said while the PNG shipping industry remains the main focus of the college’s training programmes, there is also the opportunity outside of the PNG coastal trade for officers to enter the worldwide market. He said currently the world shipping industry is short of 10,000 trained seamen and officers and this will increase to 27,000 by 2015.

He said the college’s current expansion is geared towards meeting that need.

He said by 2015, the college will have trained up to 200 cadets. The college is currently taking in officers from the Pacific Islands and East Timor, apart from the locals. It also has the capacity to take in more.

He encouraged students to look beyond coastal shipping in PNG and take advantage of the opportunities are available on the worldwide fleet.

He said there is a perception that PNG is not a stable country yet Madang has the biggest education environment in PNG.

“My job is to try and change that perception,” he said.

Students attending institutions in Madang find the province’s peaceful and easy-going lifestyle conducive to learning.

The college has well qualified academic staff members with class one qualifications—four are in the nautical department and the other four in engineering department. He said more experienced PNG nationals are coming into teaching.

Highlighting the achievements of the college graduates, Coleman said two recent Class One graduates of the college working for Consort Shipping flew to the Bahamas to deliver a new vessel through Panama Canal via Australia to PNG. He said the officers are capable of navigating anywhere in the world.

Coleman said the college has also offered its services throughout the Pacific Islands through external contracts funded by the Asian Development Bank. College staff members have also conducted regional training courses through the Secretariat of the Pacific Community in the Marshall Islands, Tonga, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu and Fiji.

Source:RamblerNews