MY MARITIME EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY & SHIP DOCKYARD ESTABLISHMENT PROPOSAL

 INTRODUCTION:

The Maritime Industry in Malaysia has grown significantly since the 70's after the Government's announcement declared in  the THIRD MALAYSIA PLAN to make    Malaysia a Maritime Nation. The beginning of the Malaysian foreign going shipping in 1969 began with the establishment of the Malaysian International Shipping Corporation (MISC). Malaysian seamen that were sailing in foreign ships returned to obtain employment in Malaysian ships. Many came back but were mainly the non-officers. The officers were hard to get by and the MISC had to employ substantial number of foreign officers to man their fleet then and now. The other factor slanting towards the shortage of Malaysians at the officer level is due to several examination and training standard requirement in order to produce officers, either on deck or in the engine-room which need to be taken by them to pass. Sufficient numbers must be available to provide the pool of officers and they were hard to get.

Malaysia's relatively young maritime tradition has been one of the reasons for the lack of seagoing personnel, especially noticeable in the number of trained officeri available to man the merchant fleet which has been one of the targets of the government. Further investment in shipping may increase employment opportunities both onboard and ashore, however it may not be the most preferable field of investment in any country whose primary objective is the creation of employment by looking at the capital intensifies of the investment. Malaysia therefore needs to examine this aspect further. Malaysia's small fleet may not have a significant impact on overall employment opportunities, but this issue becomes important when the whole maritime industry is viewed in totality. Currently, similar situations of the lack of trained manpower occur on land. As Malaysian trade expands and additional tonnage is acquired and acute shortage of trained seafarers and shore-bound personnel will occur. If Malaysia is to develop allaspects of the industry, a trained labour pool will have to be available. Only then would Malaysia have the potential to become a nett exporter or services.

In order for Malaysia to have adequately trained seafarers insufficient numbers to man her expanding fleet, the importance of well appointed and available training facilities cannot be over emphasized. They are needed to train and prepare candidates for certification. The ISM Code requires that all crewmembers be certified. This basically involves training on basic safety and survival skills. In order to comply with the code, Malaysian shipping companies can only employ certified crew. The problem voice by the industry is that they are not enough places available to train the Malaysian candidate. This provides opportunity for employment of other nationals who generally have to be paid more. 

The number of ships is increasing and new trends are emerging where newer ships are manned by lesser number of crews than the older ships. However, the number of ship personnel worldwide is decreasing and this forces the shipowners to reduce manning as well as employing non-resident ship.

However, the Malaysian ship tonnages are increasing and currently the gross tonnage stand at 6,290,172 and the number of ships on register is 3,058 ships. The number of ships propelled by machinery is 1,967 ships, the others are barges and generally do not require manning. There are at least 1,967 ships that require manning and this is estimated to require 30,000 ship personnel to be available to man the ships but unfortunately, we have not enough and this situation has invited foreign seafearers to fill the shortages on Malaysian ships. 

OBJECTIVE OF THIS PAPER:

The Establishment of The Maritime University

Legasi Ulung has staunchly stand up to accept this tough challenges  to support the Malaysian Government’s objective by triggering its mission to produce well-trained and competent seafarers to fulfill the Malaysian Maritime industry requirement as well as thriving up the country economics and Malaysian seaferears of earning better home pay and upgrading their lifestyle as long as they are committed to continuously enhancing quality and through quality services by understanding their requirements and in conjunction with Malaysian Government ’s maritime strategies and objectives. 

Thus, we are proposing to erect a proper and excellent maritime training University as one stop center for local seafearers at the exceptional location proposed land as attached which is beside Dinding River. The multi – level building shall consist of the following facilities:

1.        No of classrooms with fully equipped training materials aid

2.        Administration office

3.        Lecturer’s Research Center

4.        Library & Resources Center

5.        Engine Room Workshop

6.        Electronic Navigation Aids Simulator

7.        Bridge Simulator

8.        Life Saving & Fire-fighting Equipment’s room

9.        Ship’s equipment and maritime related room

 

The following consist of the facilities erected in the compound as well as at the river band  in order to trigger the mutual understanding of the practical training:

1.        Lifeboat and its platform

2.        Liferaft and its platform

3.        Swimming area

4.        Smoke house & Fire-fighting site

5.        Muster station

 

The establishment of the said University may provide the following maritime courses which may related to but not limited to:

1.        Basic Safety Training

2.        Tanker Familiarization

3.        Radar Navigation Operational level

4.        Radar Navigation Management level

5.        Elementary First Aid

6.        Medical First Aid

7.        Medical Care

8.        Ship Simulator and Bridge Teamwork

9.        Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats other than Fast Rescue Boats

10.      Proficiency in Fast Rescue Boats

11.      General Operator’s Certificate for the GMDSS

12.      Restricted Operator’s Certificate for the GMDSS

13.      Operational Use of Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS)

14.      Proficiency in Crowd Management for Passenger Ships and Ro-Ro Passenger Ships

15.      Proficiency in Passenger Safety, Cargo Safety, Hull Integrity, Crisis Management and Human Behaviour Training on Passenger and Ro-Ro Passenger Ships

17.      Advanced Training in Fire Fighting

18.      Maritime English

19.      Ship Security Officer

20.      Company Security Officer

21.      Port Facility Security Officer

22.      Training Course for Instructors

23.      Master and Chief Mate

24.      Chief and 2nd Engineer Officer

25.      Officer in Charge of a Navigational Watch

26.      Officer in Charge of an Engineering Watch

27.      Ship Simulator and Bridge Teamwork

28.      Proficiency in Survival Craft and Rescue Boats other than Fast Rescue Boats

29.      Proficiency in Fast Rescue Boats

30.      Ship Board Management

 

 All the courses and any future courses required shall be conducted handsomely in conjunction with the seafearers’ requirement and to cater for the needs of the industry as well as fully compiled to the STCW 2010  Manila Convention and ISM  Code.  

Prior to the company’s core mission, The proactive actions shall be implemented at all times :

- To encourage the seafearers to undergo retraining and certification in compliance with STCW and ISM.

- To actively promote seafaring as a positive career option in order to attract new

entrants to the industry. The aim should be to turn it into a high profile career choice similar to doctors or lawyers: Public perception of what a "sailor" is must be changed.

- Correct and honest information must be given to prospective entrants in order for them to make a realistic career choice. This has the ultimate aim of getting and retaining the correct candidate for the industry.

-Possibility of employing university graduates or those from higher learning institution as a new entrant as opposed to current practices should be explored.

-To encourage unemployment person registered with the Human Resource Ministry to the sea as this reflects on promoting seafaring as a career as well as indirectly support Government’s objective to minimize the unemployment percentage. 

The Establishment of The Shipyard

In accepting the Government’s call to have more bumiputra participation in maritime industry including shipyard business which has a huge business opportunities, Legasi Ulung has successfully made an mutual agreement with Damen Shipyard Group from Neatherlands whom have  lead many years experience in this industry to cater in business activities which are shipbuilding and ship repairing. Damen Shipyard merely to support, develop and implement the best innovation with technical knowledge and technology for long mutual business-relationship. Sharing knowledge is one of the most important conditions to stimulate the development of the best possible products to cater the needy of market both locally and internationally.

Our core business activities are shipbuilding and ship repairing. We would be offer a flexible range of products such as tug, flat-top barge, landing craft, offshore supply vessel, multi-purposes support vessel, anchor handling tug supply and dynamic positioning vessel. Our manufacturing process is in line with world-class standards and all our vessels are designed and constructed to the stringent requirements of international classification societies. 

Proposing the to occupy the attached land, we are intending to implement state-of-art shipbuilding facilities to achieve shipbuilding excellence with the fully support from Damen research and development (R and D) teams to continuously improving our vessels by making them more effective in their operations, more cost-efficient and more environmentally friendly. We see innovation as the key to success and believe this business opportunity would have given us the edge we need and a leading position in the Malaysia maritime market with new technology. 

By establishing this shipyard, we also believe this would create a continously training and working programme to all our potential students in order to gain skill and experience. In the meantime, it will indirectly improve the social responsbilities towards the locals with regard to career opportunities, social-economics and trigger the country maritime industry. 

RECOMMENDATION:

Based on the aforesaid facts and collective discussions among all the parties, it is strongly recommended by Legasi Ulung Management that this proposal be accepted and implemented at the soonest possible based on the facts stated above.