Shot in the arm for dredging skills

South Africa has become
the first country on the
continent to take delivery
of a high-tech dredging
simulator that will be
used to train local and
international port staff to
operate the latest dredgers
at a new dredging training
school to be opened in
Durban in 2017.
Transnet National
Ports Authority unveiled
the multi-million rand
simulator, a spin-off of
the ongoing collaboration
between the ports authority,
the Transnet Maritime
School of Excellence and the
Netherlands-based Royal
IHC and its renowned
training institute, at a
high-profile launch at the
Port of Durban on Friday.
The new Training Institute
of Dredging, which will
be based at the Maritime
School of Excellence, is the
first dredging school to be
opened on the continent.
TNPA chief executive
Richard Vallihu said the
simulator would enable the
ports authority to provide
marine skills training
to local staff as well as
to ports across southern
Africa.
“We are striving to build
our own capabilities by
developing mission critical
skills that will help us to
cater for the needs of the
Southern African port
system,” he said.
“A number of regional
ports are also ramping
up plans to expand port
capacity, including major
dredging projects, so
we would like to be in a
position to provide human
capacity in the near future.”
Vallihu said instead of
sending staff overseas for
dredging training, courses
could now be completed
locally at the school, which
would be fully operational
by 2017. He estimated that
50 students would complete
training on the simulator as
part of a holistic dredging
training programme,
over the next three years,
qualifying them to work
internationally.
Transnet chief human
resources officer,
Nonkululeko Sishi, said
the school was essential as
people retiring from the
sector were leaving a gap in
knowledge, skills transfer
and training. She said about
120 students were expected
to complete training at
the school across technical
fields over the next three
years.
“This launch is the
beginning of the process
of working together
specifically for boosting
skills development in SA.
Transnet as an SOE has a
responsibility to grow, to
contribute to towards the
development of scarce skills
and to create jobs,” Sishi
said.
Sishi said trainees would
receive a receive a Training
Institute of Dredging
certificate that would allow
them to compete with
qualified professionals
internationally.
“This puts us on the
international map in terms
of training,” she said.
CAPTION
An operator demonstrates the new high-tech multi-million
rand dredging simulator at the Transnet Maritime School of
Excellence. Photo: Lyse Comins