Investigation of Long-term Sea Training Problem of Maritime Students in Turkey

Abstract

Nearly 90% of the transportation of goods due to worldwide trade is carried out by maritime transportation. It has a large share in the economies of the countries. The training of marine officers is of great importance in order to have a good maritime trade fleet. In recent years, Turkey has significant developments in the maritime sector. Besides, a number of new maritime schools opened in order to increase the number of educated seafarers. The new schools resulted in increase in the number of students. Today, Turkey is the second country after China raising most sailors in the world. Hence, a new problem is emerged for students that they cannot find company for the long-term sea training. The factors such as inexperience of the students in the sector, lack of adequate company knowledge and decision of what type of ship they want to work also contribute to this problem. In this study, the number of new maritime colleges, the number of students, and the number of ships in the Turkish fleet are analysed to observe the sufficiency of Turkish merchant fleet for long-term training of these students. The analysis shows the insufficiency of the Turkish merchant fleet and coordination problems. Solutions to this problem are proposed for a better sea training environment.