The Hindu Business Line : Mandatory psychometric screening for seafarers

Those were the days when a sailor on a merchant ship used to look forward to his vessel anchoring at a port, as it meant a much-needed break from the monotony of days of sailing. But not any more. Thanks to advances in cargo handing technology, the turnaround time of ships at ports has reduced drastically that a sailor is almost stuck to his vessel and, with it, the monotony of the unending seas.

This is viewed as one of the reasons for the increasing trend of violence and suicides on board ships. And this factor has prompted the Directorate General of Shipping to come out with mandatory psychometric screening of pre-sea officers to gauge their mental make-up before actually they set sail.

"Earlier, sailors hopped from ship to ports, shopped in exotic shops and had fun. But now, with the faster turnaround in ports and ISPS (International Ship Port Safety) code, sailors are literally stuck to their vessels and they have nothing except the vast sea to gaze at.

Test centres

This is why we have decided to make psychometric screening of aspiring sailors mandatory so that only the tough and proper candidates are selected," an official with the DG-Shipping said.

The test comprises a response sheet containing 157 multiple-choice questions and aspiring seafarers could take this test at any of the five test centres across the country. "This is intended to make the seafarers understand the issues that affect the way people respond under pressure while sailing and how this knowledge can be applied in emergency situations," according to the official.

In fact, this is one of the steps being initiated by the DG-Shipping to expand the canvas of maritime education in India and tackle the shortage of well-training seafarers. One of the problems affecting maritime education is ensuring that cadets get sufficient training at sea. Every year, about 5,000 successful cadets come out of the 132 maritime training institutes and out of these, only 15 to 20 per cent get actual sea time training, while the rest do not get timely employment due to lack of sea time training. "So, on one hand, there is shortage of well-trained seafarers and on the other, there is unemployment among freshly training cadets. It is a catch-22 situation," the official pointed out.

Training ships

In the light of this, the DG-Shipping has sent a proposal to the Government for the acquisition of two training ships. One encouraging development is that Japan has offered India a training ship, which would be operated by the Shipping Corporation of India.

Other issues that are being seriously looked into include simulator and computer systems and deployment of high-end technologies in maritime education such as Electronic Chart Displaying System and Bride Resource Management.

Another grey area identifies is the seafarers' lack of adequate knowledge in ship manoeuvring systems. "Most marine engineers are familiar with main engine maintenance, repair, overhaul and control systems, but certain grey areas do exist with regard to manoeuvring systems,' an industry source said.

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