1,000 traineeships, attachments on offer in growing maritime sector
There will be a total of 1,000 training slots, company attachments as well as traineeship opportunities offered in the maritime sector to Singaporeans and permanent residents in the coming months.
They will be in areas such as automation systems, digital transformation, shipping operations and maritime superintendency.
Speaking at the 10th Singapore Maritime Institute Forum yesterday, Senior Minister of State for Transport and Foreign Affairs Chee Hong Tat said the openings reflect skills in demand in the industry, adding that these skills can benefit trainees if they later decide to join other sectors.
"Our maritime sector is not only resilient, it is actually growing from strength to strength during this pandemic. This is the challenge we have set for ourselves... how to grow Maritime Singapore and create more good jobs," said Mr Chee. "Besides creating new jobs, we must also help our people to develop the skills to take on these jobs."
Yesterday's forum, held at the National University of Singapore, focused on the future of port and shipping.
In his speech, Mr Chee said Covid-19 has greatly disrupted many sectors globally and changed people's way of life. However, Singapore's maritime sector has remained resilient.
He added: "As supply chains shift and become more complex, due to Covid-19 and other global developments, we must be ready to adapt and remain relevant."
Among other things, the sector must embrace digitalisation, which is fundamentally changing business models and processes across different sectors, said Mr Chee, who also emphasised the importance of global collaboration in the sector in areas such as automation.
He added that the pursuit of decarbonisation will change the face of maritime, such as the type of marine fuel used, the design of vessels, and how port infrastructure and operations are organised.
"We do not believe that being a place that is business friendly is at odds with being environmentally friendly," he said.
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