Marine Log - June 2008 - (Page 24)

CEO of Epic Ship Management, Nigel Cleave, believes that planning ahead is essential in order to increase recruitment and training Eek Thorstensen explained that the company has almost 6,500 seafarers with the vast majority of those coming from the Philippines. “Our group has a long standing commitment to training and nurturing seafarers in the Philippines and that is the main way we combat the shortages,” he comments. “In addition, we are also recruiting more officers from Croatia, Ukraine and Romania while retaining our long term commitment to the Philippines. We shall continue to upgrade and expand out training cadetship programs. This year we have sponsored 200 cadets worldwide and around 170 of those come from the Philippines.” Marlow Navigation’s general manager, Andreas Neophytou, explains that the company is expanding and strengthening its worldwide network to recruit more qualified seafarers. He says: “Marlow Navigation started some years back investing heavily in training new recruits and upgrading existing crew in order to have adequate qualified officers and ratings to fulfill the requirements of the growing fleet. Marlow’s policy has always been for a strong pool mainte- nance and high retention rate.” A proactive approach has been taken by Unicom Management Services (Cyprus) Ltd, whose first deputy managing director, Robert Thompson, said that this included placing increasing emphasis on fleet recruitment and training. "Recent additions to Unicom’s managed fleet have demanded new skill sets be developed quickly, for example, in the operation of LNG vessels," he explains. “Where experience gaps have existed, we have addressed these in a number of different ways. This has included providing work experience on specialist vessels outside our current managed fleet. “Our SCF 2010 program has ensured we remain focused on the safety of our crews and of our operations. From the feedback we receive, this represents an important factor in persuading recruits to choose a career with Unicom and to serve with Sovcomflot.” As for the future, Thompson explained that Unicom was stepping up its fleet recruitment and training efforts, in anticipation of further fleet expansion. He says: "We will continue to maximize 24 MARINE LOG JUNE 2008 YEARBOOK www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - June 2008

Marine Log - June 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Innovation Needed to Meet Crew Shortage Optimism Abounds Despite Slowing Economy Can Shipping's Shopaholics Keep Up the Buying Binge? Can Congress Keep Navy Shipbuilding Off the Rocks? Fitting the Ultra-deepwater Pieces Together Generation Next Higher Demand, Higher Prices Demand Up For Large Combination Vessels The Dirty Truth About Emissions SSAS: Realizing Its Potential Fuel Saving Technology Newsmakers Tech News Contracts Events Buyer's Guide Website Directory ML Marketplace Tech Talk

Marine Log - June 2008

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