Whether or not there is a serious shortage of cadets, and whether there are the necessary jobs for them has always been an emotive topic. According to at least one recent press report, the UK Chamber of Shipping was accused by officers union Nautilus International of breaking promises on training seafarers, an accusation the Chamber denied.
We are delighted to be able to report that one of three young seafarers who spoke at the ISF manning and training conference last year has been offered a job at BP, after contacting a number of shipping companies, and we can congratulate BP on its choice of candidate.
Colin MacQuarrie sat on a Q&A panel at the conference with our chairman, who was immensely impressed to discover in him fantastic ambassador for the industry. We gather the vast majority of his classmates have now had job offers or are going through the interview process, many of them having initially not been offered permanent roles by their training employers, although there is still one searching for a placement.
There are some impressive young people out there. Shipping companies should be beating a path to their doors. One of the other cadets at the ISF Conference, Fiona Rush, was snapped up by Shell more or less the next day.
If you're a cadet coming to the end of your training or an employer looking for newly qualified officers, drop us a line and we'll put you in touch with each other – [email protected]
