Maritime University needs training vessel

THE lack of a training vessel for the Regional Maritime University (RMU) to train its students poses a challenge to maritime education, the graduates and the profession, the Executive Chairman of ANTRAK Ghana Limted, Alhaji Dr Asoma Abu Banda has stated.
He said, “for me as a ship owner, I can recommend them for employment, however I cannot force the captain to employ them because they don’t have the needed experience to work with.”
Alhaji Banda made this state ment at the second graduation ceremony of RMU where a total of 156 students graduated in various programmes of study at both the degree and diploma levels.
He expressed his willingness to personally partner with the government, the RMU and all maritime stakeholders to provide a training vessel for the training of students of the university. Alhaji Banda noted that the provision of relevant and quality maritime education and training was a prerequisite for the improvement, safety and security of our waters, ports and harbours, and that our waterways were mainly man-made and could be drastically curtailed if they insisted on appropriate training and strict compliance of safety rules and regulations.
He urged the RMU and its Board to introduce courses that will enhance multimodal transport, which include the effective and efficient linkage between sea, rail, land and air.
Alhaji Banda explained that multimodal transport accelerated trade , and it was more cost-effective and could be a powerful vehicle for the socio-economic cooperation of the West and Central African sub-region.
The Minister for Transport and a member of the governing board of the RMU, Mr Mike Hammah, acknowledged the importance of maritime transport to the country’s economy, since the economy was largely dependent on international trade which was mainly sea borne.
Maritime education had its strategic importance to the economy, he said, adding that “Our ports and related companies, shipping and fishing organisations and inland waterways all require well trained maritime personnel for both off shore and ashore operations”.
Mr Hammah noted that there was a school of thought which held the view that since most of the nation’s shipping lines were either no more or were only shadows of themselves, struggling under the scorch of commercial non-viability , there was no need for continued emphasis on maritime education and training especially, in the case of shipboard officers.
“Contrary to this view, many nations have found it most profitable to train shipboard officers for supply to the international shipping industry such as the major maritime nations which have high demand for these officers,” he stated.
He called on member countries of the university to be more committed to their obligations to the university by supporting it through these critical times.
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of RMU, Mr Binyah Kesselly said RMU’s ranking on the International and African stage far outweighed its size and ranking.
Mr Kesselly said students from RMU were out there, onshore and offshore, working on the problems and finding solutions to shipping and maritime transport, fishing, port administration and other maritime-related service delivery truly supported by globalisation and international trade.
The Rector of the RMU, Captain Aaron Turkson said the authorities of the university decided to merge the system of cadetship and non-cadetship programmes to ensure that both industry specifics and individual needs of the students were met.
Captain Turkson disclosed the intention of the university to register its presence in the oil and gas industry through collaborations with some universities and companies with whom a timetable for training of the first batch of oil and gas safety trainees had been agreed and will commence soon at the RMU.
The Rector tasked the graduands to be good ambassadors of the university as they were going into the world and urged them to be committed to their profession and to remember that they owed it a duty to the renowned university to succeed.