SEYPEC sails off new batch of Seychellois seafarers on training
14 new recruits head off to Sri Lanka
The Seychelles Petroleum Company, SEYPEC, has today presented certificates and flight tickets to a new batch of young Seychellois seafarers as they embark on a 6-week Pre-Sea training programme at CINEC in Sri Lanka.
The selected candidates will, this weekend, travel to Sri-Lanka at the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC) to pursue their Pre-Sea training.
After undergoing a rigorous and competitive selection process, the 14 students are now embarking on the next stage in their seafarer’s career. Following their selection, the students had attended courses locally at the Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) during the first part of this year and this certification made them eligible to progress to the second phase of their 6-week Pre-Sea Training at CINEC.
SEYPEC prides itself for its commitment in the education and training of a new creed of Seychellois seafarers. Since the start of this unique human resource development project in 2014, 77 young Seychellois seafarers have thus benefited from this career-launching training.
The 2018 recruits come from various backgrounds and fields of study and have shown a keen interest to pursue their chosen career as mariners. During their studies in Sri Lanka, they will be given general knowledge relating to the shipping industry, engineering, navigation and extensive workshop practical modules giving them a holistic understanding of all vessel handling skills and duties. After completion of the pre sea training, they will be placed on board deep sea going vessels as seafarers to obtain sea time.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Seychelles Petroleum Company, Mr Conrad Benoiton said: “I cannot emphasise enough the powerful position and importance of that professional guild for our young compatriots. When they would have crossed this first stage, they would then join the other Seychellois mariners who are doing an efficient job of our tanker fleet. This project is in line with our vision to ensuring the availability of suitably qualified and trained Seychellois marine personnel. We now expect these young people to take this unique opportunity with commitment and dedication as seafaring staff members. We expect them to perform this role with impeccable skill day in, day out, by upholding our core values of professionalism, integrity and respect”.
The initiative to create a group of fully trained and experienced Seychellois with a new class of expertise has been entirely funded by the company since 2014.
This project of a comprehensive career development plan of the future seafarers aimed at creating added value to the marine sector of Seychelles and inspiring more young people to join the industry. ‘‘We are ploughing to ensure this recruitment,’ Conrad Benoiton adds. “ We focus on encouraging young people to consider seafaring professions when making choices concerning their careers or their further education. We thrive to show them that seafaring is a viable, attractive and exciting career option. Many promising young Seychellois must be aware that a career on our tankers is a unique blend of variety encompassed in a single domain. With such an option they can combine a lot of different facets and acquire a lot of exposure in terms of professionalism, adaptability and travel.”
Members of this fifth group of seafarers leaving for Sri Lanka, are embarking on a journey that will lead them to a universally recognised professional status. As SEYPEC affirms its faith in the upskilling of Seychellois seafarers, these trainees
will benefit from all conditions to further develop their skills on the job together with continuous training to one day attain top positions on our tankers as Masters, First Officers and Chief Engineers.
Editor’s Note:
The First Batch of SEYPEC recruits to attend Pre-Sea Training at CINEC, Sri Lanka were in June 2014 which included a total of 18 Students.
The Second Batch of SEYPEC recruits to attend Pre-Sea Training at CINEC, Sri Lanka were in May 2015 which included a total of 14 Students.
The Third Batch of SEYPEC recruits to attend Pre-Sea Training at CINEC, Sri Lanka were in June 2016 which included a total of 19 Students.
The Third Batch of SEYPEC recruits to attend Pre-Sea Training at CINEC, Sri Lanka were in July 2017 which included a total of 12 Students.
Costing of Training Investments with the four cohorts so far is SCR 14 million.