Funding Projects

In recognition of the Institute's Centenary in 2011, it was agreed that the Trust should adopt a more pro-active position. It had set some ambitious objectives for the short and medium term. Below are some of the projects that the Education Trust Fund has supported.

Former Cadet Richard - Now OOW

Most of the education offered by the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, embraces those already in the shipping industry. They work in shipbroking offices, in port agency or in companies on the fringe of the maritime world.

The Education Trust Fund has gone further than that by sponsoring someone working at the coalface of shipping. He is a cadet working aboard ships. The cadet, who has just completed his indentures and has passed his Class 3 certificate of competency, is Richard, aged 20 and is now eligible to perform the duties of a watch keeping officer on board ocean-going ships.

He was attracted to the sea from an early age. As a keen sailor and member of his local sea cadet group he had previously gained an RYA Commercial Masters Coastal License and during a 2 month cruise around the Cape of Good Hope, he got a taste for life at sea and a career in the Merchant Navy beckoned.

All these tasks he was busy learning during his three-year cadetship or apprenticeship. During this time he served on cargo ships, including one that carried bananas from the West Indies to Europe. He also served on board a passenger ship performing cruises around the Scottish Islands of the Inner and Outer Hebrides and up to the North of Norway. Another spell was spent on a ferry between England and Ireland.

He is able to stand a watch on the bridge for eight hours a day, usually from 0800 to 1200 and 2000 to midnight. He is capable of navigating the ship, making course alterations and keeping the Master informed of any unforeseen problems. He is usually posted on the afterdeck to oversee the mooring and unmooring of the ship when arriving or departing its berth.

TutorShip Support for Sarah

Candidates for ICS examinations rarely come directly from a seafaring occupation. But one of our students did just that.

She was obviously highly-motivated. She already had the equivalent of a First Mates Foreign Going certificate of competency. While at sea with a cruise line which ran sailing ships, she was going for a BSc (Hons) in Marine Operations Management with distance learning from Warsash University but found it hard to find time to study.

She then went for a position on a ferry servicing the Scottish Highlands and Islands and thereafter a cableship. But while she was at sea, things deteriorated at home. So while supporting her family by performing shorter voyages, she studied for her ICS exams.

With the assistance of both TutorShip and the Educational Trust Fund, she has successfully progressed up the qualification ladder. She now has just two more exams, Legal Principles in Shipping Business and Economics of Sea Transport and International Trade, to gain her PQE.

Of the ICS distance-learning arrangements, she says, "I would like to do the TutorShip course again as I found it an invaluable system and way of learning and I have learned it is beneficial to have support and contact from the tutors."

It is this sort of ambition that the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers Education Fund applauds and does its best to nurture.

TutorShip support

An Irishman, employed in the docks in Dublin was experiencing family problems. It badly affected the family budget so he felt he had to bring his studies for his Institute exams to a halt. He had already passed Shipping Business, Port Agency and Liner Trades.

The Trustees of the Education Trust Fund looked into the case and felt that he had already shown commitment by studying and passing three subjects with quite reasonable marks. They therefore assisted him with support to enable him to gain his Professional Qualifying Examinations (PQE). These form the pinnacle of ICS qualifications and completion of these exams is an illustration of one's developed knowledge and understanding of the commercial shipping industry.

Passing through this phase will enable the candidate to gain advancement within his chosen career path in shipping, a demonstration that charity begins at home.

High Tide Middlesborough

The one tradition that the Institute has at the forefront of its policies, is that of education. We have always been aware that to get people passionate about a subject, it is necessary to catch them young.

As an example, in the middle of October, a staff member of the Institute, experienced in the ways of shipping since the age of 15, went to the premises of one of our branch members in Middlesbrough. The area has a charity called High Tide, which introduces youngsters to various industries at an early age and is greatly supported by the Institute's Education Trust Fund.

On this occasion 12 school children from two local schools together with two teachers attended a two-hour lecture on shipping. Being from the North-east of England, many had relatives; parents or grandparents, who had been in the merchant navy. It was quite obvious from the questions raised at the end of the session, that many had heard their forebears telling them stories, and now the details were clicking into place.

Now some will think seriously about making their way into the maritime world. And others will sit up and take more interest and go further from there.

High Tide South Africa

One of the Institute's main roles is one of education. But this is also tempered with charity. The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers Education Trust Fund makes donations to causes which will make small improvements in the shipping industry and offer a helping hand to a few who are working in it.

One example is that of a charity in the northeast of England. High Tide introduces school children to the shipping industry. It joined hands with the ICS and introduced a similar education programme in South Africa. School principals will recommend suitable candidates from among their pupils.

The scheme includes an eight-week after-school cadet training period, a 12-week pre-employment course and a two-week work-placement scheme worked over the holidays. It was launched in South Africa by the Institute's vice-president Bruce Ogilvy.

"The children come from underprivileged backgrounds and have no concept of the shipping industry and the employment and training opportunities it offers," he said. "Once they are enrolled in the programme, the children show diligence and commitment."

You can watch the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers launch of High Tide in South Africa by clicking on the following link.

WMU Bursary Abdullah

In accordance with its Declaration of Trust, the ICS Education Trust Fund is able to award a bursary to suitable students.

It awarded one to a scholar who wished to attend the World Maritime University in Malmö, Sweden. The university is sustained by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and thus is a seat of learning that has support unparalleled in the nautical sector. In his year, there were 130 students from 49 countries; a truly international set.

Our student commented that, "The professors and faculty members are highly respected, trained, vastly experienced and have devoted their lives to improving maritime training and education." These observations strike a chord within the Institute as it echoes our own endeavours.

The students fall into three separate groups. One comprises school-leavers with no shipping exposure. Another consists of ex-seafarers who have a tremendous amount of practical ability but little commercial skill. The third is made up of those with some exposure to the shipping sector while working ashore.

The school-leavers quickly grasped the way shipping worked and the ex-sailors took no time at all to link what they had experienced at sea with the mercantile shroud that enveloped it all.

Our student has now graduated after three very successful years. His ambition was to gain a distinction and other awards. He did become student president in his final year but we have yet to learn how his efforts were rewarded with regard to his final marks.