BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN

EIGHTY-FIVE per cent of officers and engineers manning the Brunei Gas Carrier (BGC) ships are Bruneians, said Managing Director of BGC Hj Shahbudin Hj Musa.

The percentage includes engineers ranked from fourth level engineer to chief engineer and officers ranked from third level officer to captain – the highest level which can take at least 10-12 years to achieve.

The managing director, on the sidelines of a BGC scholarship contract signing ceremony earlier this week, encouraged marine officers to follow in the footsteps of Brunei’s first BGC marine captain.

BGC named Abdul Mateen Abdurrahman Liew as their first Bruneian captain in May 2013.

“Our LNG fleet of five vessels are now manned by a fully Bruneian crew with the officers and engineers ranks filled by 85 per cent of our very own young men as we strive towards our goal for BGC’s LNG fleet to be fully manned by Bruneians by 2020,” he said.

The other “15 per cent gap” was due to a majority of the BGC captains being non-locals.

“Of course the ships can still be run by ‘international captains’ but ideally it would be good to have more local captains. It would also do good for the country by maximizing job opportunities for locals,” he said.

“We have one local captain at the moment and there must be a minimum of 11 captains, so we need 10 more Bruneian captains.”

Hj Shahbudin also touched on the “Bruneianisation programme” that was introduced in 1999 to realise BGC’s objective of developing the nation’s resources towards the ultimate goal of safe and reliable maritime transportation.

“Alhamdulillah we are pleased to see the fruits of the programme. Today we have about 120 marine officers and engineers recruited from the cadetship programme and developed within the BGC talent pipeline,” he said.

He added that BGC cadets must go through grueling assessments and selection processes.

“We have a tough selection because a maritime officer is a challenging job. It is a special job that requires individuals with special qualities and we believe they have what it takes to be one,” he said, referring to the nine new cadets that earned the BGC scholarships this year.

“This is in line with the country’s Vision 2035 – to be a nation of highly skilled and highly educated people,” said the managing director.

The Brunei Times