EDITORIAL COMMENT
The importance of growing your own
Apprentices have had a chance to work on a number of demanding projects at A&P Falmouth.
A
&P’s Falmouth yard is, one suspects, typical of many shiprepair yards in Europe. More than 40 of its current
employees are now over 60 years old and so it faces an ever-increasing need to bring in new recruits to rejuvenate its workforce and develop people who have the necessary skills to sustain the business in the longer term. To achieve this, the company is committed
to a significant apprenticeship programme that is reaching out, not just to young school- leavers, but also to adult workers looking for a career change. Two more trainees recently celebrated becoming fully-qualified steel and pipe fabricators aſter completing a training programme at A&P Falmouth, and the diversity of their ages and backgrounds highlights the company’s strategy. Jason Tregenza, aged 37, and 22-year-old Kyle Head, both from Falmouth, have been learning their trade in the company’s pipe work department for the past three years. Jason is a former taxi driver, while Kyle entered from education. A&P Falmouth has invested heavily in training and apprentice- ships since 1989 and a total of 120 appren- tices have been recruited in four main trade disciplines – marine engineering, electrical, steel fabrication/welding and pipe fabrica- tion/fitting. In 2007, the company embarked on its first adult training programme with two riggers. Since then a total of 33 adult trainees have undertaken in-house training programmes to help maintain the skill base in the company. Fiſteen of these are now established members of the company’s workforce. For managing director Peter Child investment in training is a fundamen-
tal part of the company’s business strategy. He says: “We are proud of our training programmes and strongly believe that invest- ing in sustainable, highly skilled jobs is the future for our dockyard.”
“There was a time when we had a skills vacuum, when we had to look outside all the time for the tradesmen we needed”
Another UK-based company that is
committed to the apprenticeship process is Dunston’s Ship Repair in Tyne and Wear. Te company has recently completed the conver- sion of a ro-ro ferry, Tokai, into a survey ship, called Ocean Reliance, a project that took three years to complete. Tis has been one of the biggest contracts undertaken by the company in its 100-year-plus history and provided work for a total of ten apprentices who the company hopes now have a more secure future in the marine industry as a result of the experience gained. In the Mediterranean, Gibdock is another
yard operator that has found an appren- ticeship scheme invaluable. Te company has developed its own in-house Training Centre, which is tasked with developing a
Shiprepair and Conversion Technology 2nd Quarter 2012
new generation of workers for the shipyard. Training centre manager, Wille Zammit, says: “Tere was a time when we had a skills vacuum, when we had to look outside all the time for the tradesmen we needed. We still do to some extent, depend- ing on shipyard load, but with the training scheme in place that is gradually changing and we now have more home-grown skills at our disposal.” It is not just shipyards that are engaged in
developing the future skills and talent pool needed in the industry. Young engineers and engineering students nominated by RINA and AVEVA’s UK Marine customer base were recently given the opportunity to join RINA’s annual dinner, so giving them the chance to meet and network with key industry figures. This scheme is part of AVEVA’s larger Academic Initiative, through which it has forged educational partner- ships with a range of institutions, from local vocational training centres to some of the world’s most prestigious postgraduate academies. Common to all is a dedication to developing engineering skills that can be applied directly in the maritime industries, including shiprepair and conversion. Te industry faces a host of challenges,
from reduced spending on repair and mainte- nance by shipping companies as a result of the downturn, through to a need to comply with tougher environmental regulations. However, the requirement to ‘grow your own’ in terms of manpower and expertise at all levels has never been as important, nor perhaps so significant for local communities, as it is today. SCRT
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