Maritime sector professionals encouraged to take ICS courses

21 professionals within various sectors in the shipping industry from different West African countries have graduated from the Chartering Workshop course with the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers (ICS).

Coming from various fields such as oil and gas, port administration, terminal operations, and maritime law, the month-long professional development course provided practical understanding into the principles that guide the various professions in shipping.

The graduation ceremony was held at the West Africa School of Shipping in Tema.

The West African Branch Chairman of ICS, Frank Tony Eshun(FICS) said such professional training helps bridge the knowledge gap in the industry.

He said, “the more informed people we have in the industry, the better our industry will be. Across west Africa our key challenge is that we have people who have no idea about how the industry operates but yet they sit and make decisions about this industry so it is good that we have industry professionals taking this course.”

The Executive Director of the West Africa School of Shipping, Gertrude Ohene-Asienim (FICS) explained further the essence of such professional development courses for industry.

“Our courses are designed to be practical so once you enter the field of your choice after studying with us you realise that you become different. I have people attending our trainings all the time where they express surprise at what they learn. We teach them the principles behind what they do. It’s very important to understand if you are a tally clerk at the port you are not just counting. If you miscount that is someone’s liability. So we are trying to tell people that they know how to do what they do every day, but the principles behind what they do should be understood,” she explained.