57 members of YoungShip Sri Lanka visited the Hambantota International Port (HIP) recently and were given a detailed tour of the facility. The tour included visits to the port’s RORO yard, warehousing facility and tank farm. YoungShip, an international professional non-profit organisation for young people working within the global maritime industry, today counts more than 3000 individual members in Norway, Cyprus, Greece, Belgium, Denmark, Singapore, UAE, Sweden, Finland, Italy, The Netherlands, America, Germany, Nigeria, France, Spain, Tanzania, Turkey, Sri Lanka and more.
YoungShip Sri Lanka welcomes members between the ages of 20 to 40 from all areas of the shipping and logistics industry. Students to established professionals, who share a passion and belief that young people are the most significant constituents to ensure the industry’s ongoing growth and success, are part of YoungShip.
The delegation was briefed on current businesses of HIP, its volume growth, operational activities, and the port industrial park. The port’s security protocols and safety measures were also part of the discussion.
“As a policy, Hambantota International Port Group (HIPG) gives great opportunities for the youth in the industry. Through the past five years, our internship programs have exposed many graduates to work experience in the port. More than 30% of our staff are fresh graduates and our average age of employment is 34. 90% of the staff working at HIP are Sri Lankans. It was very important for the port to expose members from YoungShip to HIP as the port expands in RORO, general cargo, bunkering, bulk terminal, gas, project cargoes and passenger ships. No doubt we will soon be engaging with them in some of these sectors,” says Jeevan Premasara, Senior General Manager, HR & Administration of HIPG.
Rishantha Mendis, Chairman of YoungShip Sri Lanka who was amongst the visiting delegation said HIP had a very interesting master-plan and the port had progressed very well since their visit in 2018. He added that Youngship looked forward to future visits to see further development happening at the port.