Capt Shyam S Jairam, Director of Seaarland Management Services Pvt Ltd is an alumni of T S Dufferin, 1970-72 batch. He sailed for 15 years in various capacities. Thereafter he came ashore and was with the Maritime Administration for nearly four years. He then went on to join the private sector and was in charge of liner shipping and crew manning with Shaw Wallace. Later on he took the responsibility of representing Seaarland Shipping Management in India, and carried out the company's operations, from the offices of various agency houses, as the owner's representative. On Jan 1, 2002 a direct sub-office of Seaarland was formed in India under the name of Seaarland Management Services Pvt Ltd, whose function he is continuing to overlook in the capacity of the Director. He has been actively involved with Maritime Association of Shipowners, Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) and has taken over as its Chairman w.e.f. Jan 1, 2005 and is also on the panel of external examiners of Directorate General of Shipping and a lead auditor. He is a member of the Managing Committee and governing council of Indian Institute of Maritime Studies and a Fellow of the Company of Master Mariners of India (CMMI).

In a recent conversation with THE MARINE WORLD, Capt Jairam spoke at length about the various issues before the shipping industry. Excerpts of our interaction with him:

TMW: How would you rate MASSA's achievements so far?
Capt Jairam: Before answering your question, let me give you the background too. The Maritime Association of Shipowners, Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) has almost six decades of industry association. It first came into being as Owners, Agents Committee of Crew (OACC) in 1949, dealing with London Committee in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. In those days there were not many Indian Officers in foreign companies. Shipping Companies like Mobile, Chevron, Bank Line, Clan Line etc were recruiting Indian crew, who had to work together with British Officers. It was only in the 1970s that the Indian Officers started working with foreign companies. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, we felt the additional need of our involvement with ship management companies, since this concept was taking off well. Hence, Maritime Association of Shipowners, Shipmanagers and Agents (MASSA) was formed to continue the good work of OACC with a better definition.
We in MASSA are committed to safeguard the rights of the shipowners, agents, shipmanagers and of course ensuring that the interests of the Seafarers are protected as well. We continue to give our suggestions on different industry issues to the Ministry of Shipping and DG Shipping. Recently we had suggested some modifications in the training programmes for the Seafarers.

TMW: Recently the IGNOU OPENNET entrance examination was introduced for admission into the Diploma in Nautical Science leading to B Sc course. How helpful will it be really?
Capt Jairam: Cadets are an integral part of our programme. The initial information we have is that this year out of the 2000 to 3000 odd aspirants who appeared for the entrance examination, nearly 500 have already joined some other streams. The delay in announcement of IGNOU results and their interests in other options may be the two key reasons for their choosing other careers. But we feel that IGNOU could have held their CET and announced the results much earlier to avoid this fiasco.
Out of the remaining aspirants, half of them are common candidates for several companies. So again if a company presumes it has selected a certain number of candidates, the actual number would be much lower. In fact, we have made our stand quite clear on this issue. If at all, there was a need for a combined entrance test (CET), then it could have been held much earlier. Otherwise, the companies could have selected their own candidates independently like they were doing earlier and sent them for training to the institutes. But, the IGNOU OPENNET system was not thought of well. Even a monthly GMAT type of selection procedure was planned, but rightly it was realized that it would not be practicable.
I feel the companies should advertise independently and select their candidates, without any external interference. This year's CET is a non-starter. Many students, especially in the rural areas were not aware of such a procedure and simply they missed out.

TMW: You mean to say the industry needs to create more awareness.
Capt Jairam: Yes, you are absolutely right. MASSA, FOSMA, INSA and MFSWT are already trying to create awareness about this industry. Courtesy Capt Hiranandani, his office, at Nariman Point is dedicated towards this cause. The total combined budget of MASSA, FOSMA, INSA and MFSWT for creating awareness this year is approximately Rs 80 lakh. But, what we really need is more efforts by the government. We in private sector feel that the government is simply not doing its bit for creating enough awareness in the villages and smaller towns.

TMW: Coming back to the entrance test, do you think the IGNOU OPENNET system should be continued?
Capt Jairam: The IGNOU entrance system has not been successful so far. We tried to convince the DG Shipping that we actually need pre-Sea course of less duration and on-the-board training should be of longer period. But our voices were not heard.
Let me give you the backdrop behind introduction of this system. In the 1980s, there was a recession period for the shipping industry, when young officers were not getting employment and had to wait for a few years in some cases. Most of them did not have Graduation degrees. Due to this they were deprived of obtaining jobs in other sectors. So this new system came into being.
As per the new system, someone pursuing the Diploma in Nautical Science leading to B Sc gets his CDC after clearing professional subjects of 1st and 2nd semesters. Then he has to sail for at least one year to be eligible to appear for the 3rd and 4th semesters. Once he clears that, he will again have to sail for one more year to get eligibility for appearing the 5th and 6th semesters. If he gets through those two final semesters, he will be eligible to appear the 2nd Mate' examination only if he clears all the subjects till 6th semester. Due to remission of sea time he would be required to do a total sea time of 18 months.
To avoid this long procedure, what Indian Seafarers are doing is they are opting for the UK examination system, where the minimum requirement is only 36 months of sea-time experience. So the Indian government is indirectly helping its British counterpart by encouraging our Seafarers to appear for examinations in Britain. A lot of Ratings from our organization have successfully passed their 2nd Mates from UK and sailing as Officers. I am also happy about the new lot of GP Ratings who are equally as good as Cadets.
Hence, as the IGNOU plan has not been successful, so any programme with IGNOU with the objective that the Cadets will come back to Indian institutes to become Third Officers is not going to be successful.

TMW: Don't you think this is only going to aggravate the problem of shortage of Seafarers, which has been a constant worry for the shipping industry?
Capt Jairam: That's true. It is only going to be worse in future. A recent survey revealed that in the next three to four years when all the vessels now being built at shipyards are ready, the world would require an additional 90,000 Officers. So, where is the solution? There is an urgent need to produce more number of Seafarers and after introduction of the IGNOU system the number is only decreasing.

TMW: Would you say that Seaarland has been successful so far in retaining the existing manpower or attracting new ones?
Capt Jairam: Being an ownership concern, we are always geared up and are less affected by the manpower shortage which has been a constant headache for the industry. People who have sailed for more than 20-25 years are with us & we take all requisite steps to ensure that our employees remain with us.
We always pick up talents through campus interviews from reputed institutes like MERI Calcutta, TS Chanakya, and TMI, etc and groom them into excellent professionals.
TMW: But why do you think the young blood is shying away from shipping profession?
Capt Jairam: Unlike in the olden days, the salary attraction is no more the monopoly of the shipping industry. The young bright boys want to enter into the B-schools, IT courses etc., which assure them of more lucrative pay packages and easier lives.
Secondly, the craze for 'seeing the world free' is also not there unlike in the earlier days, when ships use to spend more time at ports and there were fewer restrictions on crew members going ashore.
Thirdly, after implementation of the ISM / ISPS norms, life has become tougher for mariners, who have to shoulder more responsibilities and do a lot of paper-works. Every type of inspection also takes its toll.
The worse part is, for minor or no fault, at times the crew are forced to face criminal charges. Recently a Master of a ship managed by V Ships, Capt Chawla and his Chief Officer were detained by the Korean authorities. They won the case in court, but since the opposite party is appealing in the upper court, they have to be there till the appeal court clears the case. Will it not demoralize the shipping professionals?

TMW: If you compare the efficiency and professional skills, how would you rate Indian Seafarers with those from other countries?
Capt Jairam: Our Seafarers are far superior to those from other countries. Our understanding of the English language puts us at an advantage unlike the Italians, Philippinos, Russians, and Koreans, Chinese or those from several other countries.
The second advantage our boys have is our social set up. Indian family system teaches us to respect our seniors, love our youngsters and live in a joint family which lays the foundation for becoming good team players. You can judge from the fact that today we have Indian Officers in all leading shipping companies round the globe. Of course, in aviation sector unfortunately we have not achieved this so far.

TMW: Tell us something about your organization's future plans?
Capt Jairam: Presently we have 50 ships (including the time charted vessels) and in the next three years we are aiming to increase this number to 100.