Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU), which oversees the interests of seafaring officers, will contribute $1.2 million over two years to encourage local shipping companies to provide training opportunities to seafaring cadets, says a report in the Strait Times.
Local shipping companies can benefit from the fund to train Singaporean seafaring cadets.
The aim is to encourage partner companies to provide shipboard training for cadets from two existing training initiatives – the Tripartite Engineering Training Award (TETA) and Tripartite Nautical Training Award (TNTA)
Companies will receive $5,000 from SMOU for each Singaporean cadet they take on under the TETA and TNTA programmes.
The two programmes train Singaporeans to be nautical desk officers and marine engineers onboard commercial ships.
Education Minister (Higher Education and Skills) Ong Ye Kung, who announced the initiative on Thursday (Feb 2) at the union’s annual Chinese New Year luncheon, said SMOU’s injection comes as the shipping economic situation faces strong headwinds.
Up to 240 cadets are expected to benefit from the new funding scheme, which gives them the opportunity to have the training they require in order to move on to become full-fledged officers in future, said SMOU.
