Shipping giants join hands to recruit seafarers for gas carriers

MOL Tankship Asia and Synergy Group of Companies are on a drive to recruit seafarers from tier-two cities like Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh, Dehradun and Bhubaneswar for six Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) being acquired from South Korea.

The MOL Group, one of the largest shipping companies in the world with a well-diversified fleet of nearly 900 ships and Synergy Group, which also has diversified interest with over 100 ships, have partnered in 2014 to work together for brand promotion.

According to reports, the $723 million contract for construction of VLECs has been awarded to Samsung Heavy Industries and the carriers are said to be first of its kind in having unique features. They will be deployed in India for transportation of liquefied ethane.

A team from Mitsul O.S.K. Lines (MOL) and Synergy Group were in the city to hold an outsource programme for about 150 seafarers. The team included MOL General Manager (Marine Personnel Department) based in Singapore Shintaro Imade, Tokyo-based Manager (Business Administration & Seafarer Unit) Taku Hisai, Synergy Group Managing Director Capt. Anshul Rajvanshi and senior officer Capt. Naveen Kumar Antil.

In chat with The Hindu on Monday, Mr. Imade said they had found the response from seafarers in the city very positive and isndicated that due to huge fleet size, they would also recruit talented people for other vessels as and when required.

Asked about their preference for Indian seafarers, he said worldwide they were acknowledged for their hard work and merit. Declining to comment on the size of investment on VLECs, he said the first vessel was expected to be rolled out in October.

There is opening for captains, chief officers, second officers, third officers and cadets on the deck and chief engineers, second engineers, third engineers, trainee marine engineers, gas engineers and electric office.

The two shipping companies have also formed MOL Synergy India Pvt. Ltd for ship management and training. The training institute located in Chennai conducts courses in advanced simulators for internal candidates.

Both MOL and Synergy, Mr. Imade said see a big market in India and were keen on exploring various opportunities.