Shell arrives in India.

In a recent development that has come as a much-needed boost for the Indian manning industry, Shell shipping has commenced recruitment of Indian manpower through Selandia Marine Services onboard its fleet. Selandia has reason to feel proud, as it is understood that Shell narrowed down its options and finalized its Indian associate after carrying out a detailed survey of the Indian manning scene. This development is bound to be viewed by the Indian manning industry in a very positive light, as it has been felt that quite a few shipowners and shipmanagers have initiated the process to replace Indian seafarers onboard their vessels by some cheaper, although debatably less qualitative, nationalities.

Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Ltd. (STASCO) is the principal trading and shipping business of the Royal Dutch / Shell Group. The ship management division of STASCO is responsible for managing and manning Shell's large portfolio of liquefied natural Gas carriers and Oil tankers. It offers technical and operational expertise for the safe conduct of Shell managed and manned vessels. Currently, Shell has more than 1500 seafarers onboard oil tankers and gas carriers, carrying out skilled tasks in a challenging environment.

Narrating the events leading to the development, Capt. S.K. Srivastava, Director, Selandia, said, "The representatives of Shell had visited us in the month of November 2001 on a fact-finding mission to know more about Indian manning and training. Visits were arranged to LBS CAMSAR and The Maritime Training Institute (MTI, powai), and meetings held with Selandia seagoing staff. They were quite impressed with the training establishments and the level of expertise and knowledge of the officers and indicated that the visit had been worthwhile."
Continuing further, Capt. Srivastava said, " In January 2002, Shell intimated that a decision had been made to employ Indian officers for the Shell fleet. This was followed by another visit during which candidates were selected on the basis of interviews for placement onboard from February 2002 onwards."

Elaborating on the composition of the Shell fleet and employment conditions, Capt. U.R. Thakore, Managing Director, said, " Presently, Shell has a fleet of 43 ships with 12 more ships on order. The fleet consists of Crude / Product tankers and LNG carriers. Shell offers permanent employment on a four months on and two months off basis on terms that match the best in the industry, along with benefits such as study leave, performance bonus, etc. Shell does not recruit Masters and Chief Engineers directly from elsewhere as the company policy is to fill in these positions from within the system, or offer officers that have already served in this capacity an opportunity to join at a lower rank, with promotion after completing a tour of duty. All promotions are based on merit and not influenced by time served in the organisation or nationality. Officers are encouraged to undergo additional company sponsored training courses and also given the opportunity to serve on the LNG carriers with steam propulsion so as to broaden their experience."

Commenting on the scope of recruitment of Indian officers in the company, Capt. Thakore said, "Manning strategies are influenced by various factors and the industry has been subject to situations when some owners and managers have looked at replacing Indian officers with alternate nationalities available at a lower cost. This is normally a result of market driven economics that at times leaves them with no options, though there is the possible risk of sacrificing quality. Indian officers are generally perceived to be very good and do have an edge when quality is considered important, especially when involving operations on specialized vessels such as Tankers or Gas Carriers. If we are to continue to hold this advantage, we need to ensure that the standards of training and levels of performance are not allowed to fall and steps taken, where necessary, to improve on the overall quality of officers. Shell's entry into India is definitely a very good beginning and if we are able to meet expectations, we will see an increase in the number of Indian seafarers."

The arrival of Shell to India is no doubt a morale booster for an industry that has been affected by changing strategies and indicates that if the Indian seafarers are able to hold the edge, they can look forward to a bright future serving on quality fleets with quality companies.

ST

Reproduced courtesy "Sailor Today".