Smart Cadet Looking For A Mentor

Shipboard training is one of the most important and challenging periods in the life of any marine cadet. Everybody is eager to join some major company, to present oneself in the best possible way, and, after having got certified, to be guaranteed to obtain a well-paid job. There is a high competition for the opportunity to undergo shipboard practice on modern tankers, chemical tankers and gas carriers even among exemplary cadets. For less successful cadets or those who have some missed assignments it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible, to find a company willing to hire them as apprentices.

Sometimes the desire to undergo shipboard training in the established company instigates young guys to terrible acts. We can recall the investigation into fraud, which was launched in the Krasnodar region this June. A certain lady promised two Novorossiysk cadets to arrange them training on board ocean-going vessels. She requested about 300 000 rubles for these intermediary services. Having received the required amount, the woman disappeared with money. Poor cheated guys went to the police. Now this criminal case is brought to the court. That's what can happen to those who want to get a desired trainee job by all means, because without this the young seafarer would not receive his Certificate of Competency.

The paradox is that the the shortage of young officers is acute problem for every shipowner. However, in most cases business prefers not to train their own specialists, but to get a ready-made ones from the outside.

Sailing first

After the first year of training, cadets have the opportunity to "try the sea" under sail on board one of the six training ships provided by Rosmorport. Until recently such opportunity has been inaccessible for the southerners. However, in May 2017 the three-masted frigate “Khersones” joined the Russian sailing fleet and became the training sailing ship for the cadets of the Admiral Ushakov Maritime State University and its branches. The ship navigates between the Crimea ports, Sochi and Novorossiysk almost without a break. Every two months there is a change of trainees.

- At any one time, on board the frigate 107 cadets from our parent University, its Rostov and Sevastopol branches, and also from almost all the other industry-specific educational institutions of the European part of our country are trained under the supervision of four tutors, - says Anastas Boran-Keshishyan, Assistant Principal on conventional marine training, Admiral Ushakov Maritime State University.

- The purpose of training on board a sailing ship is to obtain core marine skills, to acquire the competencies of ratings. Nevertheless, the training on board a large operating vessel under the supervision of chief mate or engineer is absolutely necessary for better understanding of the profession, - emphasizes Sergei Kondratiev, the Principal of the Admiral Ushakov Maritime State University.

Perfect candidate

The Southern Centre for Practical Trainings Management was established at the Admiral Ushakov Maritime State University to assist cadets. With the help of this Centre about 250-300 marine cadets are sent on ships every year. The University has more than 20 agreements with shipping companies and crewing agencies, where smart cadets are welcomed. The leaders are well-known: Sovcomflot, Baltic Group International (BGI) and Columbia Shipmanagement.

- In recent years the requirements of shipping companies to the level of trainee's knowledge become more tight, the grade point average should not be less than four, - Anastas Boran-Keshishyan comments. - Of course, this is a good incentive for cadets to study better. However, there are other meaningful factors, apart from grade points. The final selection takes place after personal interview with the representatives of the company. So, in “Novorossiysk Shipping Company” the prospective trainee is interviewed by master mariner mentor or chief engineer mentor.

The "entrance ticket" for the interview is the grade point average (higher than 4) and the Letter of recommendations from the University. But even among those who manage to pass all these stages, the competition still makes about 2.5 people per position. Each year, the shipping company takes for shipboard training 80-100 cadets of marine specialties and 10 shore-based specialists, future economists and accountants, 95% of them return to work for the company. BGI provides trainees with more than one hundred positions. "Instead of the interview, we offer language testing, required by our clients: Conversational English and computer-based testing," - says Vladimir Feoktistov, Director of BGI Novorossiysk. Some 90% of cadets having done training on board BGI's ships return there to service after graduation from university.

“Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd.” has been offering its cadet training program for more than 10 years. Annually, up to 40 people undergo pre-graduation training with the company. "We provide guaranteed employment for those who successfully pass the shipboard training and earn good recommendations," - said Sergei Panyushkin, Director of Columbia Shipmanagement Novorossiysk. “You can get such start in life provided you have grade point average higher than 4, you know your specialty and you are fluent in English. The latter is very important. We select the best ones in accordance with the established procedure: first we ourselves conduct interview with the cadet, then we introduce him to the shipowner who interviews him in English personally or through video call”, - he added.

Do not be overboard

But what about those who can not be considered the best one or simply have not been selected among other candidates? Can the trade union help the cadets in such difficult issue? We asked this question to Nikolay Popov, the Chairman of Southern Territorial Organization of Seafarers' Union of Russia (SUR UTO). “Previously, the state fully provided the training of future seafarers, including a practical training. And now the cadet must look for a trainee position himself, and not all of them succeed in that. Some of them come to our organization. We provide guys with information: how many trainee positions are offered by Novorossiysk crewing agencies, on what conditions they are ready to hire trainees. If someone can't find a trainee job in Novorossiysk, we advise him to contact the companies in Taman, Temryuk, or try to get trainee position on board bunker barges. Without timely shipboard training you may not get a Certificate of Competence, which entitles you to sea service as a junior officer right after graduating from university”, - said Nikolai Popov. As a result, young seamen will have to earn sea service time working on any ship, that offer them a job. This can take about two years. But everyone wants to go to sea as soon as possible, be employed in the position of an officer and get a good salary.

Along with time wasting, young marine specialists lose their skills, and most notably – their motivation. This adversely affects the future career of the officer. The union believes that it should not be like this. Russia needs a state program to provide the cadets of maritime educational institutions with shipboard training. In this regard, SUR has already appealed to the Ministry of Transport. And while the decision is not made, the cadets will be forced to spontaneously storm the seafarers' labor market, and sometimes to get into criminal news.

STO SUR