THE SHIPPING INDUSTRY IS ONE OF THE MOST UNDERRATED SECTORS IN INDIA, AND AS THE INDUSTRY OPENS UP, JOBS ARE IN ABUNDANCE.

IF you are aware of the career opportunities existing in the maritime field consider yourself lucky, as majority of students in the market are clueless about the vast openings available here. And mind you, opportunities do not exist only for people with a technical background but also for people with a professional degree. Apart from engineers and poly-technicians, there is a plethora of opportunities that not many are aware of.

INDUSTRY SPEAK

Many do still not know the industry. “The shipping industry is booming at a break neck speed and so there is a huge dearth of qualified professionals. The biggest hindrance for getting candidates is that the industry is not quite advertised. People still are not well aware of the various opportunities in the industry,” says Captain Nalin Pandey.
   According to Captain Anindya Dasgupta, who works with a leading shipping company, the industry has been working in a closed shell. “Till sometime back, we had enough manpower because outsourcing wasn’t happening. Today, there is a deluge of work. And to be frankly saying, we were not ready for it,” says Captain Dasgupta
   Captain Pandey is of the view that the shipping industry is best for those with a modest background, ”Hard work is here, and the difference is that if you are on board, the income that you get is tax-free and the efforts you put in is actually appreciated. A person coming from a simple background understands the value of time and money.”

ELIGIBILITY AND OPTIONS

The technical fields (oil, gas and chemical carriers), look out for candidates with an engineering /polytechnic background. Captain Dasgupta warns, “Unlike other industries, where you first opt for a degree and then look for a job, in shipping it’s best to find a company that would provide you with the necessary training. This is because
there aren’t enough good training institutes.”
   As mentioned earlier, the shipping industry has much more than meets the eye. A cruise liner on an average carries around 2000 passengers of different nationalities. Therefore, there is immense demand for professional chefs, photographers, musicians and dancers. “As a photographer my job is to click pictures of the guests (passengers) and display it in the gallery. If your picture gets picked up, you get paid for it,” articulates Prathmesh K, photographer on board. On the other hand, Chef Allen Hodges expresses the job challenge as tremendous. “Catering to about 2000 plus passengers is quite a task. In addition to this, we have to interact with people from different countries, who could be work mates or superiors onboard.”

SCOPE   

If you are aspiring to get into the technical field you could start off as a cadet, and in a couple of years become an officer and eventually a captain. “Although it takes around 10 years to become a captain, it’s worth investing the time because the respect and money you get would be matchless,” informs Captain Manoj Chaudhari from World Tankers Management Pvt Ltd.
   “Promotions on board cruise ship are purely performance based. World-class performance management systems ensure that you could be promoted mid-contract depending upon your performance and vacancies available,” assures chef Hodges.
   The companies conduct training and knowledge enhancement programmes. This helps keeping oneself updated and competent enough to scale up to the next level.

PERKS

A cadet normally earns around $ 400-500, a month and once you get promoted to a junior level officer, expect nothing less than $ 2,500! And all this is tax-free. Other benefits given to employees include medical insurance to rewards to timely appraisals. “We extend help to the immediate family members also. Apart from helping the employees monetarily in times of emergency and sometimes allow family members to be on board. Since every ship has a satellite phone and an email facility, employees can be in touch with family,” informs Captain Choudhary.
   As chef Hodges says, “There is nothing a job on cruise. Where else would you get to see the world and get paid well at that? I’ve had the chance to circumnavigate the world thrice, visiting places from the North Cape in Antarctica to Australia and New Zealand.”
   Captain Pandey sums up, “Without ships, half the world will starve and the rest half will freeze. So, this is the right time to be in the industry.”

INSTITUTE INDEX   

International Maritime Training Centre
   (IMTC), Mumbai
   Anglo Eastern Maritime Training, Centre, Mumbai
   Trident College of Marine Technology,
   West Bengal
   Coimbatore Marine College
   C V Raman College of Engineering, Orissa (Indicative listing)