24 Oct 2021  |   05:52am IST

GSAI hails DG Shipping for 100% resumption of MTIs

Team Herald

MARGAO: The Goa Seamen Association of India (GSAI) has welcomed the decision of the Directorate General of Shipping (DG Shipping) regarding courses seafarers have to attend and the 100 per cent resumption of Maritime Training Institutes (MTIs).

In a statement issued on Saturday, the GSAI also pointed out that they had brought these issues to the attention of DG Shipping Amitabh Kumar and Union Minister of State (MoS) Shipping Shripad Naik to intervene and help the seafarer community. The first was regarding the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping (STCW) courses for conducting practicals and to consider the validity of five years for the courses.

Further, the GSAI had appealed for the DG Shipping and the Union Ministry to understand the woes of the seafarers and to reopen and safely resume MTIs. 

The GSAI said this has borne fruit as it has given relief to thousands of seafarers and they added that now the COVID situation has improved in most of the States in India. This they say has allowed and encouraged seafarers to seek employment and secure their jobs by doing STCW courses.

 “Now all MTIs can operate at 100 per cent capacity subject to seafarers taking a double dose of vaccination. The MTIs have been instructed to schedule their batches accordingly by following strict guidelines of prevailing SOPs,” said GSAI President Frank Viegas. 


IDhar UDHAR

Idhar Udhar