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Boat captain course offered at NMC
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Posted on Jan 20 2005
It was anchors away at the NMC Small Business Development Center on Jan. 17 after a group of students seized the opportunity to enhance their career options through a unique intensive boat captain-licensing course.
According to Captain Fred Reiman, instructor for the course, the primary objective of the course is to help the students obtain their boat captain license.
Saipan resident Jason Shankweiler, a fellow boat captain employed by Saipan Crew Boats and founder of Marine Tech International, had originally organized the licensing course and other professional marine career courses in the last few years.
Shankweiler said that attendance for the boat captain course has grown between 5 to 10 percent per year since its inception in 1996. He said there are approximately 30 to 35 licensed boat captains in the CNMI.
“With increased enrollment came a need to move the course from a cramped apartment to a more formal conference room. That’s when I decided to seek the assistance of the NMC SBDC,” said Shankweiler.
Eric Plinske, director of the NMC SBDC, noted that the course objectives complement the SBDC’s mission of assisting local entrepreneurs to grow their skill sets.
“When you think about it, enhancing your professional growth during a recession makes sense because the graduating students will be well positioned to immediately increase their salaries and take advantage of new job opportunities when the economy rebounds,” Plinske said.
Several of Reiman’s past students have similar thoughts. “We enjoy being on the water and interacting with the tourists. We’ll have a greater opportunity to achieve that goal by getting our captain’s license, and the pay is much better!,” they said, laughing.
Shankweiler said that he doesn’t intend to saturate the market with boat captains. His goals are larger in scope as he’d like to see the CNMI marine industry upgrade itself. He noted there are jobs available for individuals in engine rooms, on the decks of boats and in the navigation area.
If you would like further information about the boat captain licensing course or other professional marine courses contact, Shankweiler at 287-2420.
