Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute
Type | public |
---|---|
Established | 1978 |
Chief executive officer | Iefata Paeniu[1] |
Academic staff | 12 |
Students | 120 graduates in 2009 and 2010 |
Location | 8°26′17.6″S 179°10′16.3″E / 8.438222°S 179.171194°E |
Campus | Amatuku |
The Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute (TMTI) is on Amatuku motu, on Funafuti atoll in Tuvalu.[2] TMTI provides training to approximately 120 marine cadets each year,[3] to provide them with the basic skills necessary for employment as seafarers on merchant shipping. TMTI operates under the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute Act 2000.
Employment
A number of Tuvaluans are employed as merchant seamen on cargo ships on contracts of up to 12 months. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimated that, as of 2011, there were 800 Tuvaluan men trained, certified and active as seafarers. The ADB estimated that, at any one time, about 15 percent of the adult male population works abroad as seafarers.[4]
The Ahrenkiel Group of Germany is the shipping company that is the primary employer of Tuvaluan seafarers.[4] The SWIRE shipping company also employs Tuvaluan seafarers.[5]
Twelve Tuvaluan sailors were among the crew of 24 of MV Hansa Stavanger, a German container ship that was captured by Somali pirates in April 2009.[1]
History
In the late 1960s and early 1970s merchant shipping evolved from an industry that involved ship registration and the recruitment of crew in the country of ownership to a multinational industry characterised by ‘internationalising’ crews, management and ship nationality using
Development of the training facilities
Tuvalu has implemented the 2010 amendments to the Convention on Standards of Training Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers 1978 (STCWS), which improve training for managing security standards on merchant shipping to address risks such as piracy.
In 2002, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved an assistance package to upgrade the Tuvalu Maritime Training Institute.[4] The redevelopment of TMTI was considered necessary to meet the competition provided by the growing supply of qualified seafarers graduating from an increasing number of maritime schools around the world and to meet the tightening of accreditation standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO).[4] The project financed by the ADB involved a jetty extension and installation of specialized safety-at-sea training equipment, installation of a fire fighting facility, expansion of the water catchment and storage capacity, construction of new staff housing, the rehabilitation and extension of trainee quarters and training facilities.[4]
This redevelopment of TMTI involved a major replanning of the facilities on Amatuku motu including relocating the fire fighting simulator, the electricity power plant, residential block for the students and building a new double story school block. The workshop complex was renovated and now includes welding booths. A new jetty was built, which incorporates the lifeboat launching davits.[7] The work was completed in 2011.[4]
Opportunities provided by TMTI training
The TMTI provides Tuvaluan men with eight months of training to provide the basic level of maritime qualifications necessary for employment in the international maritime industry.
In July 2014, following a joint study by the Tuvalu Overseas Seamen's Union, the Tuvalu Maritime Services, the crewing agency APNL and the Tuvalu government, the government introduced a policy of reimburse 50% of the airfare between Tuvalu and Fiji.[5] The study concluded that shipping companies were finding that recruiting Tuvaluan seafarers was too expensive and involved delays. The government also negotiated an extra flight a week with Fiji Link so that Tuvaluan seafarers could take up jobs on short notice.[5]
Demand for the services of Tuvaluan seafarers
The
Tuvaluan seafarers compete with those from
See also
References
- ^ a b c Matau, Robert (September 2013). "Getting our seafarers ready for high seas duties". Island Business. Archived from the original on 2014-04-03. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
- ^ "Amatuki motu, Funafuti". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "Tuvalu marine cadets". Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Maritime Training Project: Program Completion Reports". Asian Development Bank. September 2011. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
- ^ a b c "Tuvalu policy on seafarers sees job improvements". Radio New Zealand. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 2 September 2014.
- ^ a b c Borovnik, Maria (2009). "Transnationalism of Merchant Seafarers and their Communities in Kiribati and Tuvalu". Migration and Transnationalism: Pacific Perspectives (ANU Press) Chapter 9. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ "Regional Maritime Programme for Tuvalu". Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Suva. 3 May 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
- ^ Stephen Boland and Brian Dollery (2005). "The Economic Significance of Migration and Remittances in Tuvalu" (PDF). University of New England, School of Economics, Working Paper Series No. 2005-10.
- ^ "Voices of the Vulnerable in the Pacific: Summary Note ('The Global Economic Crisis impact on Tuvalu Seafarers Remittance: the story of Tangata's Family')" (PDF). UNICEF. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
- ^ a b "Tuvalu: 2014 Article IV Consultation-Staff Report; Public Information Notice on the Executive Board Discussion; and Statement by the Executive Director for Tuvalu" (PDF). International Monetary Fund Country Report No. 14/253. 5 August 2014. p. 27.