Mr Temisan Omatseye, a former Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says there is a shortfall of 250,000 seafarers globally to occupy international maritime jobs.
Omotseye made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Friday.
He said that there was need to have more Nigerian seafarers in the international market, saying that Nigerian cadets would get automatic employment after sea time training.
According to him, there are many training schools for cadets but most of the schools lack sea time training.
“Seafarers need practical experience for them to be gainfully employed.
“The unfortunate aspect of the training is inadequate Nigerian-flagged vessels. This is why we are not able to put many trained cadets onboard for sea time training,’’ Omatseye said.
The former NIMASA boss said that inability to engage many cadets on sea time training had deprived them of employment.
Omotseye, however. urged the Federal Government to continue to fund NIMASA so that the cadets would have the opportunity to undergo sea time training, which would improve maritime business internationally.
NIMASA sent 289 cadets on sea time experience on ocean-going vessels between December 2017 and January 2018 to UK and Egypt.
NAN reports that 200 cadets were sent to Egypt and 89 cadets to UK for the sea time training as part of NIMASA’s National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).
