The National Union of Seafarers of India (NUSI) has sought financial assistance from Ministry of Shipping for training of maritime workforce in oil exploration activities. India faces lack of workers for oil exploration especially due to inadequate training facilities, lack of onboard practice, and lack of compliance with new regulations in the industry.
Local media reports that the NUSI has sought financial aid and incentives from the Ministry through National Shipping Board for training the maritime workforce at NUSI Offshore Training Institute (NOTI), currently operated by NUSI-ITF Trust.
NOTI trains workforce that operates specialised vessels or small-sized ships catering to various needs of oil exploration activities.
“I am extremely happy that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget speech stated to incentivise oil exploration activities across India’s vast coastline. The government should also incentivise training of Indian maritime workforce needed for oil exploration activities,” Serang said.
Mr Serang explained that the country is confronted with crew shortage because the oil exploration activities are scarce in India, mainly due to the lack of world-class training facilities. Therefore, he highlighted that ”they cannot run into the risk of letting foreign maritime workforce fill the future vacancies, considering the fact that a boost is expected on the oil exploration front”