Anglo-Eastern Shipmanagement (AESM), whose headquarters are in Hong Kong, has no fewer than 5,000 participants attending its ultra-modern training centre in Mumbai each year. More than anything else, this underlines Anglo-Eastern’s commitment to value-added courses and the continuous development of seafarers.
Anglo Eastern manages over 200 ships and provides crew for another 70 ships. The ship types include LNG- and LPG-carriers, oil and chemical tankers, bulk carriers and container vessels.
50 value-added courses
The training programme with over 50 value-added courses is designed for the overall development of the seafarer. Courses are also run on human factors like inter-personal relationships, motivation, etc. Anglo-Eastern has been chosen to receive the Best Foreign Employer award by India’s Director General of Shipping each year for the past four years.
“I’m very impressed by the way Anglo-Eastern runs its operations and the training,” states DNV’s Principal Surveyor and a former captain, Karl Reidar Johansen. Previously this year, he took part in a seminar in Mumbai arranged by Anglo-Eastern at which the Chief Executive Officer of the Anglo Eastern Group, Peter Cremers, held the opening address. The theme of the seminar was ‘Combining Modern Technology with Basic Practices for Safer Operation’. Karl Reidar Johansen’s talk was on: ‘Seafarers’ Conditions – the Human Element’.
“I really appreciated the seminar and all the people involved,” says Karl Reidar Johansen.
Long Anglo-Eastern-DNV partnership
DNV and Anglo-Eastern have had a long partnership to improve the standards of Anglo-Eastern’s seafarers and office staff.
The partnership started in 1991 when Anglo-Eastern became the first company in the Asia Pacific region to be certified under the DNV SEP rules for quality assurance. The partnership has continued until this date.
The training centre in Mumbai was the first in India and the fifth in the world to be certified by DNV under its rules for the certification of maritime training centres. Anglo-Eastern’s ship management offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Glasgow are certified to ISM, ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 by DNV. The ship management offices in Antwerp, Montreal and Mumbai are also certified to ISM by DNV while the manning office in Manila is certified to ISO 9001 by DNV. Practically all Anglo-Eastern’s superintendents and auditors are trained in Accident Investigation, Modern Safety Management and Risk Assessment by DNV.
Hands-on training not forgotten
“The Anglo-Eastern philosophy is ‘The continuous training and improvement of the skills of sea staff and shore staff go hand in hand and are essential to quality assurance’,” states Captain Pradeep Chawla, Director Quality Assurance & Training at the Anglo Eastern headquarters in Hong Kong. He also places emphasis on the fact that hands-on training is not forgotten. Anglo-Eastern’s liquid cargo handling simulator is the first of its kind in the world – with a single cargo control room for four ship types – oil, chemical, LPG and LNG ships. The touch screen LCD panels being used to simulate the mimic panel in the control room are also first of their kind in the world of simulation.
One step ahead
“Ships are only as good as the people who man them,” says Captain K.N. Deboo, the General Manager and Principal of Anglo-Eastern Maritime Training Centre in Mumbai. “We firmly believe that quality manpower can only be achieved through specialised value-added training. The marine environment is a harsh task master, unrelenting and unforgiving. The only way to tame it is to stay one step ahead. STCW 95 starts you off from ground zero – that’s the basic level of competence required to run ships safely. As ships become modernised and have newer, more sophisticated equipment fitted, the people who are going to operate them also need to be upgraded. The Anglo-Eastern Maritime Training Centre was set up for this purpose 12 years ago.”
Date: 2006-10-12