The congress is an excellent venue that facilitates ITF affiliates to discover new areas of activity and learn the experience of other states and affiliates.
For this aim additional events - fringes are constantly being held in the framework of the Congress. One of which is the visit to the Wavelink Maritime Institution (WMI).
WMI is a part of the Singapore Marine Officers Union (SMOU) and gives to its members an opportunity to obtain a maritime education or enhance their professional level. The Institute is fully supported by the State and the Maritime Administration of Singapore, as well as by shipowners. The cost of the Deck Cadet training program, which lasts 31 months, is about 29,000 Singapore dollars. The state covers 80% of these expenses, another 10% is covered by SMOU, and just 10% of the amount is paid by the cadet itself.
By the way, despite the huge tonnage of vessels under the Singapore shipowners, there are only about 1,600 seafarers in the country. Nevertheless, the authorities as well as shipowners, together with the trade union, understand how important it is to promote the seafarers profession for the country wellbeing, since every 2-3 minutes a vessel enters or leaves the port of Singapore. About 1,000 vessels might be located in the port at the same time.
