Good openings in shipping sector
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Maritime trade is giving rise to new employment opportunities and creating a demand for trained personnel.
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CONTAINER TRAFFIC: Maritime trade offers a good number of job opportunities.
Shipping and maritime trade account for a major part of the global trading scene today. With economies today turning liberal and global, foreign trade, be it export or import, is on the increase.
Statistics available about EXIM business on international basis suggest that the increase will be several fold in the coming few years. India is already playing a significant role in the arena of foreign trade. And it is the shipping and maritime sector that accounts for a significant portion of this trade.
An overview
Shipping conventionally consists of transporting goods from port to port, whereas maritime trade consists of incidental services such as services of ports; custom house agents, who, on behalf of the customers, comply with customs requirements; steamer agents, who represent in ports the shipping companies which transport goods; freight forwarders, who receive goods from customers and arrange to send them through ships or airways; clearing and forwarding agents, who take steps to clear the goods from the port and forward the same to the customers; non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCCs), who take care of transport of goods onshore; and the modern multi-modal transport operators, who arrange for transport of goods from godown to godown.
The sector includes CHAs and C&F agents, shipping agents, container leasing and handling organisations, freight forwarders, multi-modal transport operators, NVOCCs and ship operators.
Job scope
The employment opportunities in such organisations in India are estimated to run into thousands. There is a rolling stock of employment generated by the constant migration of the employees in India to foreign ports. It is understood that a good number of employees even in Kochi migrate to foreign ports.
The proposed Vallarpadom project in Kochi, Vizhinjam project in Thiruvananthapuram and Sethu Samudram project to increase the capacity of Tuticorin port will create a large number of additional employment opportunities. Movements are on the increase in all Indian ports.
In the arena of foreign trade and shipping, there are established courses which train students to work in export-import organisations and on board ships. No such development has taken place with regard to the commercial aspects of maritime trade. Only conventional maritime countries such as the U.K., European countries, U.S., Singapore and so on have specialised courses to groom students to work in maritime trade organisations. Not many academic programmes exist in India. Perhaps, the Narottam Morarji Institute of Shipping, Mumbai, is the only institute which offers a course related to maritime trade. Maritime trade organisations described above have generally five departments, such as administration, accounts, operations, documentation and marketing. It is such departments that need personnel. In the absence of specialised courses to provide qualified candidates, the organisations at present recruit freshers from the employment market and get them trained within the organisation in six months to one year. It is to meet this demand that a couple of private organisations in Kochi have started offering diploma and certificate courses related to maritime trade and shipping. Those qualified in maritime trade are employable universally and a study of the international situation will go to show that there is a shortage of qualified hands in foreign ports also, thus providing an opportunity to students in India to move out.
Maritime Trade and Shipping Practices PG Diploma faculty,
Erica Academy for Continuing Education and Research, Kochi.
MARITIME TRADE AND SHIPPING PRACTICES PG DIPLOMA FACULTY, ERICA ACADEMY FOR CONTINUING EDUCATION
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