International Maritime Training Academy

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The maritime industry and the role in national development

The Maritime sector has served each nation a great purpose ranging from water traveling to sea freight; saving each country the trouble of conveying heavy loads on land which might lead to degradation on such roads in time to come.

Considering the essentiality of this sector, states have started making legal backings to regulate that particular sector hence the “Carbotus Law.” The conveying of heavy goods have always been achieved by sea transport method; duo same cannot be said on the side of sea passenger transport because of the radical development in the aviation sector which has drastically reduced the size of sea passengers (despite its cheaper nature).

The maritime sector can be attributed to any distance by Boat, Ship, Sail Boat, barge over Sea, Rivers, Lakes, and Canals, most importantly the maritime sector also serve well for military purposes.

Water transport is highly cost-effective with regular schedulable Cargo, e.g., Trans-oceans shipping of customer products and as mentioned earlier, Heavy loads or bulk cargo, e.g., Grains, Ore, Coal etc. which can weigh up to the size of the earth when conveyed through the land. This medium comes with some discouraging factors associated with it.

The maritime industry is made up of crew officers who have over the years manned various departments that have kept the ships sailing, though some passed through the best maritime academy in world while the others have got the primary maritime education and training, but all the same the fact remains that all went through same maritime training. These departments include:

a) Stewards' department – this is the domestics but essential department for Cargo Ships. The topmost ranking officers being the Chief Steward, The Chief Cook, and Steward’s Assistance and officially filled with unlicensed personnel.

This personnel attains a maritime training academy before they are qualified to take up those jobs. The job of the chief steward includes planning of menus, compiling financial records like supplies, overtime and cost control records as well as supervisory purchases in stores and equipment.

b) Engineering Department – a ship’s engineering department consist of ship crews that maintain the engine movement and other systems on board the vessel. Surprisingly, the jobs of the engineering crew include accommodation, fuel-transfer as well as First Aid. Sometimes the engineering crew also assists the Deck Officers and deck workers.

The department’s hierarchy comprises

i) Chief Engineer.
ii) Second Assistant Engineer.
iii) Third Assistant Engineer.
iv) Fourth Engineer (third assistant engineer).
v) Fifth Engineer (junior engineer)

Others include the Oiler and The Greaser who are officially an unlicensed rating.

c) Deck Department – this includes the master and his chief, second and third officers. The official classification for these unlicensed members of the deck department is categorized namely:

i) Chief Officer (Chief Mate).
ii) Second Officer (Second Mate).
iii) Third Officer (third Mate).
iv)Boatswain.
v) Able Seaman.
vi) Ordinary Seaman.

These are the three dominant positions on a ship, though there are still others that their task contributes so dearly to the operation of a vessel, those include:

i) Junior Assist. Purser.
ii) Senior Assist. Purser.
ii) Senior Assist Purser.
iii) Chief Purser.
iv) Medical Doctor.
v) Nurse.
Vi) Maritime Physician.
vii) Hospital Corpsmen.

During the voyage, mariners spend most of their life beyond the reach of land; such situation is considered to be quite dangerous finding a large number of fishers that have lost their lives to the sea.

Maritime education is still essential in this sector, workers or prospective worker are advised to go through any maritime academy or maritime college to at least acquire a maritime certification that can qualify them to fit-in the committee of mariners.

There are some lists of maritime training school(s) that are proclaimed to be among the best maritime academy in the world; amongst them are The United State Naval Academy, The University of New Orleans, US Merchant Marine Academy, Texas A&M among others who still offer the best maritime education and training.

Finally, the maritime industry has always played an essential role in the development of world economy, should the governments of every nation especially the Philippines (that their wages do not measure up with that of their average colleagues in another part of the world) should at least consider those voyagers as parts and parcel of agents of economic development.

With this, the maritime industry will undoubtedly be the best option for a career choice. Private cargo owners should stop looking for cheap labor and compliment the efforts of the lower shipping staffs.