The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Company said it has supported the Nigerian Maritime Academy, Oron to train manpower for the maritime industry.
This was contained in its 2015 facts and figures report.
The NLNG Ship Management Limited, charged with the development of Nigerian shipboard personnel, was set up in response to the scarcity of shipboard personnel worldwide.
The NLNG also said in 2014 it sponsored 14 NLNG Ship Management Limited ratings through the academy.
The company claimed to be the biggest employer of seafarers in Nigeria, with about 364 seafarers in its employ.
Since its commencement, the shipboard officers Nigerianisation policy had produced six captains and four chief engineers, it said.
The report said, “With the incorporation of its first subsidiary, Bonny Gas Transport, in 1989, the LNG shipping industry in Nigeria was born. Currently, the NLNG through the NLNG Ship Management Limited is the biggest employer of Nigerian seafarers. The NLNG has trained hundreds of seagoing officers, some to the level of captains and chief engineers.”
A total of 364 ratings are presently in the employ of the BGT and the number is expected to increase to 385 by the end of 2015, according to the report.
From 2001 to 2014, a total of 240 cadets were said to have completed their cadetship training programme in the UK maritime colleges.
As part of their training, all cadets would go aboard the BGT vessels for practical experience and to give them the required discipline for a successful career, it stated.
In 2014, it said, 13 cadets completed their three-year cadetship and were currently serving on the BGT vessels as officers. And at the end of that year, the NSML had trained 25 engineering officers.
The report stated, “The NSML currently has 194 Nigerian offices in its employ and independently manages the deployment and training of all officers and cadets.
“Because we did not have many Nigerians in the senior officers’ rank, in 2013, with the board approval, the NSML started recruiting foreign senior officers to allow the manning agreement with the AESM to run down. By the end of 2014, the NSML had employed 43 officers.
“The NSML continues to direct employment and management of ratings as approved by the NSML Board of Directors for the BGT. Cadets and junior engineering officers are also being trained to obtain qualifications in motor ships and steam ships to allow the NSML to meet the additional challenges and requirements of the new build dual engine LNG carriers.”
It also said that as part of it Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas Limited, NLNG, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with six Nigerian universities.
Under the initiative, the company has committed to spend $2 million on each of the participating universities for the construction of modern engineering laboratories and procurement of cutting edge engineering equipment to aid teaching and research.
Among the beneficiary universities are University of Ibadan, University of Ilorin, University of Port Harcourt, University of Maiduguri, Ahmadu Bello University, and University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.