Wallem plans to focus on martime training

"The industry is facing tough time now but we need to create infrastructure to cash in in a better situation. We need more trained sea farers," Wallem Shipmanagement managing director Navin Passey said.

He said the company will open offices in smaller cities and tap for students from smaller cities like Pune, Patna, Jharsuguda and Siliguri among other locations.

Wallem, which has 10 units in the country, already offers on-job training to certified sea farers. "Now, we are going to tieup with an institute in Mumbai to train 10+2 students interested in making careers in merchant navy with guranteed job to increase interest in this sector," Passey said.

The company will open facilitation centres in Lucknow, Kochi, Dehradun, Patna, Vishakapatnam, Indore, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar as part of the expansion strategy at an investment of more than Rs 20 crore.