(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles' Ministry of Education and the Colombo International Nautical Engineering College (CINEC) have signed a renewed memorandum of agreement (MoA) to further improve safety, efficiency, and competency within not only the maritime sector, but also the fisheries sector of Seychelles.

The agreement was signed by the education minister, Justin Valentin, and the president of the CINEC Campus, Ajith Peiris, on Tuesday.

CINEC has been collaborating with the ministry for the past 10 years, and through this agreement, Seychellois cadets and Seychelles Maritime Academy (SMA) lecturers have had the opportunity to attend training programmes at the SMA on Mahe Island and the CINEC Campus in Colombo, Sri Lanka.  

The academy offers cadets certifications across varying levels in navigation and seamanship, fishing science and technology, and marine mechanics, in addition to several other short courses.

During the short signing ceremony, Peiris outlined that CINEC "brought Seychelles into the IMO [International Maritime Organisation] whitelist and that means international recognition of Seychelles’ Certificates is now in place."

"Our next step is to make sure that the Certificate of Competency issued by Seychelles becomes a reality, which is expected to come into effect, in about 3 months. This certificate is internationally recognised, meaning Seychellois can sail on any other foreign ships and bring more foreign exchange to this country," said Peiris.

Valentin said that the renewal of the agreement is a commitment that the government is making to the youth of the country in terms of development in the maritime sector.

Peiris further added that CINEC is now shifting activities to expand into the fisheries sector of Seychelles and getting involved in developing programmes and training in the port sector. He outlined that at the moment, tug masters are receiving further training to handle ships more efficiently and competently.

Through the training, CINEC wishes to bring more professionalism into the fisheries sector, especially when it comes to rules and regulations.

The fisheries minister, Jean Francois Ferrari, who was also present at the signing, outlined that the first link between CINEC and SMA was more geared toward training Seychellois youth to work on tankers.

"At the ministry, we want to make a shift to now include fisheries, yachting, and activities in the port. SMA has also accepted to provide more practical short courses," said Ferrari.

The shore-based shipping industries expected to benefit include logistics and supply chain management.

The first MoA with CINEC was signed on August 30, 2013, and has since been renewed every three years. The last agreement, which expired in December 2022, was extended to cover part of 2023 until this agreement was signed.