Marine education needs more encouragement: Purandeswari

Updated on: Saturday, November 05, 2011

Maritime education needed more encouragement due to global demand for experts in the field, Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development D Purandeswari said.

Presenting M Tech degree course certificates to four students of Indian Maritime University here, she said a specialisation course in maritime education was very essential to meet the growing demand the world over.

India provides about 6.3 per cent of seafaring officers to international shipping sector, whereas China provides 10.4 percent, she pointed out.

She also said that shipping tonnage of Indian ships was about ten million tonnes, which was between 1.1 to 1.2 per cent of international shipping tonnage. The government vision document says that it must be increased to 30 million tonnes by 2020, she added.

Vice-Chancellor of the Maritime University P Vijayan said every year the varsity produced 1,400 graduates from its six campuses: Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Cochin, Visakhaptnam and Kandla.

The University plans to introduce courses in maritime law soon. Andhra Pradesh Government had agreed to provide 105 acres of land to the university for a new campus in the Sabbavaram Mandal of the Visakhaptnam district, he said.

Marine education needs more encouragement: Purandeswari

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