SINGAPORE: Multipurpose port operator Jurong Port launched a new training institute called the Jurong Port Academy on Friday (Jan 20).
Located at the Devan Nair Institute for Employment and Employability (e2i), the Jurong Port Academy is part of the port’s efforts to transform the multi-purpose port industry by leveraging new technology and innovation to enhance capabilities, increase productivity and upgrade the skills of port workers.
The academy will cater to about 1,900 workers from Jurong Port and its partner companies, training them with a curriculum that includes classroom based training, simulator classes alongside on-site training and online learning.
Jurong Port – which handles general cargo such as like cement, sugar and MRT trains – has invested around S$2.8 million into the academy, with funding support from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
Jurong Port chief executive officer Ooi Boon Hoe said on Friday that the port is facing challenges such as an ageing workforce and slow growth in productivity.
The port operator is hoping to change this by introducing new machinery to automate processes and reduce the manual nature of work.
The new 2400sq ft academy will teach workers to operate new equipment. For instance, they will learn to use sideloaders – forklifts that load and unload from the side, allowing them to navigate narrower walkways and spaces than standard forklifts – to make the handling of steel cargo easier.
The sideloader can be driven by one driver, replacing three stevedore workers in loading and unloading cargo from the ship to the shore, Mr Ooi said.
Workers being trained to use the sideloaders at the Jurong Port training yard. (Photo: Calvin Hui)
Training simulators will also give workers the chance to learn how to operate cranes in a safe and controlled environment before progressing to the actual operations.
SHIPPING INDUSTRY FACING “DISRUPTIVE CHANGES”: JOSEPHINE TEO
Speaking at the official launch of the Academy, Senior Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo said the challenges faced by Jurong Port in training port workers to prepare them for new jobs came amid “disruptive changes” faced by the shipping industry.
“It is inevitable that some jobs will change. Some port workers will have to learn how to operate new equipment, others may have to perform new functions – for example after manual processes become automated,” she said.
“Port workers will need support and help to upgrade their skills and capabilities.”
According to Jurong Port, there are about 18 stevedore companies that employ about 700 workers in Singapore.
The director of operations for one such company, Dockers Marine, said the launch of the academy was timely.
Mr Selva Raj said that he has had difficulties recruiting new stevedores because certification courses vital to stevedore operations, such as for the operation of ship cranes, have not been available in recent years.
The launch of the academy will see the reintroduction of such courses, allowing stevedore companies to recruit new workers.
To ensure that the academy will be relevant, Jurong Port will also form a learning council comprising representatives from the stevedore community and the National Transport Workers’ Union to advise the Jurong Port Academy on its training activities.
