A TOTAL of 60 scholarships will be offered over the next two years as part of a new programme to train young Singaporeans to become seafaring officers.

They can apply for the scholarships with their N levels - a notch lower than the O levels required for the only other similar training programme here, which is offered by Singapore Polytechnic.

The scholarships, worth $2.4 million, are funded mainly by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and Singapore Maritime Officers' Union (SMOU).

Two other parties in the Tripartite Nautical Training Award programme are the labour movement's Employment and Employability Institute (e2i) and the Singapore Shipping Association.

The industry is having difficulty recruiting young Singaporeans to work on ocean-going vessels, given the array of career choices onshore.

SMOU adviser and MacPherson MP Matthias Yao noted at a dinner on Thursday night that the dearth of Singaporean officers is compounded by a global shortage which is set to become more pronounced when the shipping economy improves.

The Baltic and International Maritime Council and the International Shipping Federation estimate a shortfall of 27,000 officers by 2015.

The new programme hopes to boost the pool here with Singaporeans who have at least N-level passes in English, physics and mathematics. Those selected will undergo training for 301/2 months. both onshore and at sea.

SMOU's training outfit, Wavelink Maritime International, will provide the training, while e2i will recruit the candidates.

GOH CHIN LIAN

This article was first published in The Straits Times.