Starter Kit. Idea 337 of 500. Cluster 16
Maritime training for the ships of the world, since Colombo is on the lane and the cadets go anyway
The mechanism, from the book
177,000 qualify every year and 45,000 get a place. The other 130,000 are a market that nobody has built for, and the polytechnic is not a second choice when it leads to a job.
The first step
Talk to five cadets or recent seafarers about what training they paid for, where, and what they wish they had been taught before joining a ship. Then ask a crewing agent what gaps they see in new crew and whether they would pay for a short course that fills them. A crewing agent willing to send cadets is the proof.
- Who pays first
- A crewing agency that needs cadets ready for the ships of the world and will pay for training that saves time on board.
- What leaves today
- Colombo sits on the lane and the cadets go to sea anyway, but the fees for the training that gets them there can leave with them.
Ask first
- Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission. Ask how a maritime course can be accredited here.
- Sri Lanka Ports Authority. Ask whether training could use port facilities or visiting ships for practice.
Check before you spend
Which international certificates a cadet must hold, which body approves maritime courses, and whether your course can lawfully claim to meet that standard.
Find out these three numbers
- What gaps do crewing agents see in new crew?
- What would an agent pay per cadet trained?
- What do cadets pay now for their courses?
A comparison from the book
The harbour. Chapter Two
"Colombo sits on the main shipping lane between East and West."
The ships already pass the island; crews trained here are one more thing to sell them.
The test
Does it keep value that now leaves the island, or build the proof that lets somebody else do so?
From the appendix of Why Not Sri Lanka? by Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. The idea and the mechanism are the book's; this kit was written for the site.