DANISH SHIPPING COMPANIES BOOST MENTORING SCHEME

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

“We started out with 30 mentors who were prepared for their role at a special education day. But then coronavirus came “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 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. 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.

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.

“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. 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.

Educational advisor Angelika Rasmussen is planning to visit Danish maritime schools during the autumn of 2022 to talk about the mentoring programme.

Both parties have to want the relationship and find it meaningful. That is why a mentor-mentee relationship can only be built on volunteerism. It is not necessarily every pupil who can see themself needing or using a mentor – just as not all seafarers can see themselves being a mentor.”

To get the mentoring programme moving again – without any coronavirus obstacles – DANISH SHIPPING is hosting an event for all their member shipping companies that focusses on the mentoring programme. During the autumn, Angelika Rasmussen will also be travelling to some of the Danish maritime schools to talk about the programme. “There is a good cooperation between maritime schools and the shipping business in general. And there is a joint focus on getting young people entering the profession the best possible way. In DANISH SHIPPING we have a close and fruitful collaboration with student counsellors from the different schools. That means we can travel around and offer them a role in the mentoring programme,” she says and underlines:

“The learning environment is very important to young people; they want there to be meaning behind their actions and tasks. They want to be recognized and get feedback. A mentor can help by showing that, as a young seafarer, you are the co-creator of a good learning environment. At the same time, it is important that the mentee doesn’t feel that the responsibility is resting only on them. It is okay to have expectations of the learning environment, and it means a lot that a mentor tells them that and says it out loud and supports it.” SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE!

Come and join us when DANISH SHIPPING invites interested parties to learn more about the mentoring scheme. The event is for you who are willing to mentor a young student who is getting ready for an internship at sea.

The event will be held on 25 August from 12.00-14.00 at DANISH SHIPPING, Amaliegade in Copenhagen.

Read more about the mentoring scheme here www.danishshipping.dk/ uddannelse/maritimt-praktikkontor/ mentor/