MISC focused on youth development

Saturday February 23, 2008
By SHARIDAN M. ALI
sharidan@thestar.com.my

Its corporate responsibility programmes propel long-term growth

FOR MISC Bhd, the world's single largest owner-operator of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers, the concept of corporate responsibility (CR) goes beyond philanthropy and public relations.

The shipping giant's CR programmes propel quantitative and qualitative long-term growth that benefits the group, shareholders as well as stakeholders.

Its CR programmes also support Malaysia's bid to become a prominent maritime nation.

Dealing with the complex and advanced LNG and other types of energy transportation, MISC has long anticipated the present shortage of skilled seafarers.

It has been working on and investing in various educational and training programmes for youths.

It is speculated the global shortfall in shipping manpower has doubled to 20,000 in the last two years.

Group corporate affairs general manager Fiona Clare Pereira told StarBiz that MISC CR-related programmes continued to focus on youth development this year.

“As Malaysia is envisioned to be a maritime nation, MISC is committed towards the provision of efficient human capital to support this vision, focusing on our very own Malaysian Maritime Academy (Alam).

“For the financial year ended March 2007, more than RM16mil was invested in our cadet sponsorship programme at Alam,” she said.

Today, she added that many of the sea captains in Malaysia's maritime-related industries were Alam graduates and MISC was proud to be the contributing factor behind their success.

“And many more graduates of calibre are already in the making.she said.

“Although they may not be on life-long employment with MISC, our CR towards fulfilling Malaysia's aspirations of becoming a maritime nation will always be at the forefront of our commitment,” she said, adding that this also ensured the availability of seafarers for MISC's growing fleet.

According to Pereira, its latest CR programme, “Navigate Your Career” is an effort to prepare university students to enter the real “working world”.

“MISC wishes to prepare them to be more adaptive to the changes and progression of the job market,” she said, adding that the programme was launched last July in various universities across the nation.

She said the three-part programme, “Educate, Engage & Expose - Navigate Your Career”, was geared towards enhancing employment awareness via guidance initiatives imparting soft skills and insights into career development.

This CR programme is inclusive of road shows, an online resource centre and practical attachment.

About 3,000 undergraduates participated in this programme whilst eight students have just completed the student attachment pilot project.

“We believe our latest effort in social development will help create a more buoyant local graduate pool in the near future,” Pereira said.

Also last February, MISC and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UiTM) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for the establishment of Professorship Chair in marine technology at UiTM.

The chair is tasked with bridging the gap between what the academic institution is offering and the maritime industry’s needs for qualified personnel and technological advancement to meet the present and future challenges.

The establishment of the chair would further enhance research in maritime technology, which would benefit the maritime sector in Malaysia.

MISC and UiTM have also jointly established a Marine Technology Research and Development Database at UiTM.

The database focuses on marine technology research and development data throughout Malaysia.

In terms of health and safety in the workplace, MISC does not confine itself to a specific programme or scheme.

Its corporate health, safety and environment general manager Captain M.K. Ganesan said several programmes usually ran all year round.

“Promoting healthy lifestyle, safety and protecting the environment are some of the programmes that have been rolled out,” Capt Ganesan said.

“Onboard our vessels, we have an ongoing campaign - Zero Incident Zero Accident (ZIZA) - for our officers and crew to be vigilant at all times,” he added.

In the last financial year, 13 ships recorded their third year ZIZA safety performance; seven ships, their second year; and 13 ships passed their first year.

Capt Ganesan said another significant project launched in 2006 was the MISC fuel efficiency campaign.

“The fuel saving measures not only reduce consumption but also environmental pollution.

“Burning one or two extra tonnes of fuel oil on a voyage can have much effect on the overall fuel cost and environmental pollution.

“The cost becomes substantial when this is extrapolated within MISC's entire fleet,” he said.

To MISC, CR is not only about making a positive impact on society and the environment but also generating sustainable benefits to society as part of maintai ning a long-term competitive business.