BHUBANESWAR: A piece of good news for mariners who had to fly to UK and spend lakhs for studying short-term courses to have international qualifications. JWC International Marine Academy, a leading global maritime training and consultancy, has set up a state-of-the-art institute at Bharatpur here to impart training on 22 marine courses.
Apart from a fire fighting and ship survival facility, the institute houses state-of-the-art ship simulators, which will provide the trainees a virtual feeling of sailing ship. This marine academy is all set to create new opportunities for employment.
‘’Our aim is to provide a world class facility for training of mariners at a low price since people are facing immense difficulties in getting VISA to study such certificate courses abroad,’’ said programme head of simulations Captain Chinmay Rath. While around 3,000 mariners from the State require logistic training, Rath said Odisha is the perfect place to have a marine institute offering international courses, given its approach to digitalisation and development. A centre of excellence for next generation of seafarers, the academy, which was recently inaugurated by Lok Sabha MP Prasanna Patsani, has got the approvals for all its 22 courses from Maritime and Coastguard Agency, UK.
One of the directors of the institute Sam Rehman said the courses offer one-day to five-day training on seafaring and the fees range from `2,000 to `40,000.‘’This is a significant development not only for the State but also for seafarers across the country as they need not travel to UK to complete the extensive portfolio of marine qualifications. We will start three-month courses from next year and make it a university in future,’’ he added.Set up on a two-acre patch of land, the marine academy is considered the largest provider of UK maritime qualifications in India.