‘SL in a position to provide professionals to global maritime industry’

by Hiran H. Senewiratne

Sri Lanka is in an ideal position to provide seafarers and maritime professionals to the global maritime industry, with the expansion of global trade and the establishment of a number of new sea ports in the future, General Manager, McLarens Maritime Academy (Pvt.) Ltd. (MMA) Capt. Dhakshina Perera said.

“We focus on providing world class maritime training within Sri Lanka, while creating a benchmark to develop the skills of Sri Lankan seafarers and other maritime industry professionals for the future for global shipping lines in the world, which would bring an enormous amount of foreign exchange into the country, Perera explained.

Perera added: ‘MMA also seeks to expand the overall labor market potential of the maritime industry by providing an internationally accepted, high quality maritime education solution within Sri Lanka and by reducing the requirement of foreign training centers.

‘Students of McLarens Maritime Academy are given hands-on experience in ships, using our own fleet of ships. MMA is one of the few merchant shipping- approved institutions in the country. With the expanding of East and West Terminals, the number of ships that will be calling at the Colombo Port would increase significantly and in turn the demand for seafarers and maritime professionals will increase at an equal pace in no time.

‘MMA was launched as the dedicated maritime training and development arm of the McLarens Group of Companies, taking the initiative to train well-qualified seafarers to the shipping industry.

‘It is said that 90 per cent of global trade is happening via ships and our academy enrolls a limited number of students and they are being trained at our Kotahena training center and also at the Wattala center.

‘One can join the Academy with a minimum qualification of GCE O/L or A/L as a trainee. There is a lot of scope worldwide in this field because in the next five years the maritime industry will expand exponentially. In that context, the demand for seafarers and other maritime professionals will increase in a big way.’

The McLarens Group is a diversified conglomerate with interests in Maritime and Logistics, Petroleum and Energy, Distribution, Manufacturing and Leisure/Property. McLarens has established a major presence in the shipping, marine and logistics industry for over 70 years, informed sources said.