Consort continues to train and develop Papua New Guinea seafarers

Captain Sod Baim (left) and Captain Jason Feda, both Consort-trained national captains holding Master Class 1 Certificate of Competency

Consort Express Lines Ltd has been vigorously training and developing Papua New Guinean seafarers within the maritime sector over the years.

The company’s cadet sponsorship programme is a significant component of its overall training and development strategy.

It involves the recruitment of young grade 12 school leavers to undergo four years of cadet training to become qualified ships officers.

The company has a total of 40 cadets currently in training from first year to fourth year.

Its annual cadet intake is five marine engineer cadets and five deck cadets, which represents a substantial investment for the future manpower needs of the shipping industry in PNG. The company has also been sponsoring employees to attend PNG Maritime College in Madang to upgrade their certificates.

Last year, the company sponsored the highest number of students enrolled at the Maritime College for various courses and was indeed pleased with the results.

All its sponsored students for Mate Class One and Engineer Class Two courses have successfully passed both their written and oral exams.

Charles Peni, a Consort-sponsored student was awarded the best student prize in the Mate Class One course.

The company is encouraged and will continue to sponsor more students at the Maritime College this year.

The company employs a total of 230 marine personnel throughout its fleet of vessels of which 95% are Papua New Guineans.

It boasts the services of two senior Papua New Guineans who hold Master Class One Certificate of Competency obtained from PNG Maritime College under full company sponsorship.

Two other senior Papua New Guinean engineers who hold Engineer Class One certificates have successfully localised chief engineer positions on large vessels.

All four senior officers have been trained and developed by the company up to international standards and are qualified to sail on any sized vessels anywhere in the world.

With the recent acquisition of larger vessels, the company now has a significant advantage for its current employees to gain higher level certificates.

The size of the vessels operated and the routes on which they trade, gives the company the capability to offer sea time from cadetship up to Master Class One or Engineer Class One levels with internationally-recognised certificates.

The company has recently seen the successful delivery of its latest vessel the MV Madang Coast, which sailed from the Caribbean to Lae with a 100 % complement of Papua New Guinean officers and crew, who displayed a very high level of professionalism in their jobs at an international level.

This groundbreaking achievement gives the company the confidence to continue to maintain its training and development strategy to meet not only its own future manpower needs but also the needs of the maritime industry as a whole.