Company plans to increase fleet size by 60% in five years, to increase procurement from India
Company plans to increase fleet size by 60% in five years, to increase procurement from India
Wilhelmsen Ship Management, among the top six third-party ship management companies of the world, is planning to increase the intake of Indian seafarers as part of its ambitious growth plans to grow its fleet by 60% in five years.
The company, which established its Indian operations in Mumbai in 1975, currently has over 2,500 active Indian seafarers accounting for nearly 30% of its total seafarers’ pool and the objective is to increase the number of Indian seafarers including officers, in a progressive manner, a top executive said.
“We are very much committed to India and are here for the long run. As we increase the size of our fleet, we will progressively recruit more Indian seafarers. We plan to hire 300 to 400 seafarers in the coming years,” said Carl Schou, president & CEO, Wilhelmsen Ship Management in an interview.
He said the company would onboard more female cadets in the coming years as per its commitment to gender diversity and ESG values. Currently female cadets constitute 4% of its annual intake.
Emphasising that Indian seafarers are in demand in the industry because of their skill sets, Mr. Schou said,” Globally, the shortage of seafarers has always been a challenge for the shipping industry. To address this, we have been constantly increasing our cadet programme intake 24% annually on an average for the past five years,” he said.
“We are also working with our [ship] owners to create a sustainable pipeline of future officers by putting more junior officer’ position onboard,” he added.
In line with International Maritime Organisation’s goal of reducing emissions by 50% by 2050, the company, he said, has lined up plans to power its managed fleet with low or zero-emission fuels such as LNG, methanal, ammonia and hydrogen.
Since this major shift, would require special training of the crew to operate such ships, the company has scaled up the capability of its training centre in Mumbai which been in existence since 1998.
“We are utilising our own training centre in Mumbai to train our Indian seafarers to attain the right competencies and certifications to operate such ships powered by new technology,” Mr Schou said.
The company, which also procures over $230 million worth products from India for its global operations, is also likely to see this volume going up in line with fleet expansion.
Wilhelmsen’s office in Chennai from where it provides support to its ship is also heading for capacity expansion as per the growth strategies.
