– THEME: The young seafarers –
DANISH SHIPPING GETS MENTORING PROGRAMME UNDER WAY Since 2019, 30 mentors have been part of a programme established to give young seafarers a good start in the shipping industry and help them see its possibilities.
By Kirstine Thye Skovhøj, Journalist
At DANISH SHIPPING, educational advisor Angelika Rasmussen is working to strengthen the connections between trainees, shipping companies, and the whole field of education. To further these goals, they are very keen to re-start their mentoring programme, which was established in 2019
along and activities like that were shut down,” the educational advisor says. Later, the 30 mentors were matched with young mentees. Some of these matches took place during the coronavirus lockdown, so the correspondence took place via online meetings, emails, messages, and talking on the phone.
“We started out with 30 mentors who were prepared for their role at a special education day. But then coronavirus came
The purpose of the mentoring programme is to give young seafarers support throughout all of their education – not only while at sea, but also during school stays.
THE DANISH SHIPPING MENTORING PROGRAMME FOR YOUNG SEAFARERS The programme is designed to support young seafarers entering the maritime world in relation to career paths, labour market resilience, and the ability to navigate through the industry. The students who can be mentees must attend a Danish maritime education.
“Our mentoring programme is important because the mentor supports the relevant learning needs in relation to being part of a workplace at sea. It’s a workplace that’s different from any other, and one that requires a special effort to help the young seafarer get started and develop throughout their education. Being at sea can feel like being part of a small, closed world. That is why it’s important a young person has a third party on land to go through different situations with,” Angelika Rasmussen says.
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“With our mentoring programme, we can give young people an insight into how diverse the maritime business is and show how many career options you can give yourself by choosing a maritime education,” Angelika Rasmussen says.
THE BENEFITS GO BOTH WAYS To become a mentor, you have to work at sea or have worked at sea. In addition, it is vital to want to share your personal experiences with a younger person. It is also important that a mentor has the time to build a relationship based on continuous contact. “As a mentor you get the possibility to reflect on your own experiences when you get questions from your mentee. At the same time, you get a very special insight into and a better understanding of the new generation going to sea,” Angelika Rasmussen says and elaborates: “It is crucial that mentor and mentee have a trusting relationship – and that your relationship is based on the values of respect, trust, empathy, and confidentiality.
