SMOU and SOS Working with Maritime Companies to Future-ready Workers

The Singapore Maritime Officers’ Union (SMOU) and the Singapore Organisation of Seamen (SOS) have joined forces to partner Pacific International Lines, POSH Fleet Services and Wallenius Marine Singapore in the formation of company training committees.

The parties signed agreements on 20 September 2019 at the Tripartite Maritime Training Award Graduation and Investiture Ceremony.

The three CTCs will be supported by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and are the first-of-their-kind in the maritime sector.

The training committees aim to prepare seafarers to be future-ready in the maritime industry through a series of training programmes, courses, seminars and on-the-job training.

The move is another example of how unions are working closely with their unionised companies to support the workforce’s transformation amidst technological advances.

The goal is to help seafarers become more productive while increasing value to businesses, develop a competent and sustainable future for the maritime workforce and better the work environment in the industry, according to SMOU in a press release.

Tripartite Maritime Training Award

The TMTA is a place-and-train programme initiated by SMOU in 2009. It is supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, SkillsFuture Singapore, and by e2i.

The programme aims to attract and maintain a strong Singapore core by building a ready pool of seafaring officers.

To date, over 30 companies have supported the programme, and in the last 10 years, over 300 cadets have been trained.

“Both the TMTA programme and CTCs are training tools for the tripartite working partners to work together to strengthen the Singapore core. While the TMTA programme aims to attract talents and create good jobs in the maritime industry, the CTC develops a culture of retraining and upskilling. These enable our seafarers to transit into new or reconstructed jobs that would emerge as the workforce become future-ready so that our seafarers can have better wages, welfare and work prospect,” said NTUC President and SMOU General Secretary Mary Liew.