The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

MORE than a dozen job seekers attended a job fair hosted by Bahamas Ferries yesterday.

Human resources manager at Bahamas Ferries, Natasha Morgan told The Tribune the boating company decided to host the fair to assist those seeking to further their career in the maritime sector.

She said officials were looking to hire some 30 people in both New Providence and Abaco in hopes of filling vacant positions ranging from boat captain to cabin attendants.

“We are looking for maritime employees so that would be from the captain, the mate, the engineer and also deck hands and we do have one or two positions available in the freight department along with cabin attendants,” Ms Morgan said.

“It’s important because we are looking for qualified persons, certificated persons. We’re looking for persons who want to further their maritime career so there’s various reasons why we’re having this job fair. We want to make it as open and accessible as possible and so we decided to have it today.

“We also have one that will be in Abaco tomorrow because we do have an operation down there and we will be looking for those same positions we spoke about.”

Among those who attended yesterday’s event was Andre Buchanan.

Mr Buchanan said his love for boating and desire to excel in the industry encouraged him to apply at Bahamas Ferries.

He said: “I was diving for ten years and I have my certifications and I didn’t want it to go to waste so I said let me get back on the boat. I was trying to get more involved in marine life so this would be the best experience for more boating so I can move on to get my captainship…because its rough out there and people taking advantage of good people who looking for work and they trying to give them any little salary because they need them to work.”

For Daniel Pinder, his motivation to apply at the company was due to the lack of job prospects for unvaccinated people like himself.

He said: “The job market is really serious. I graduated in 2020 and (finding a job) was particularly hard for people who aren’t vaccinated like myself and it was kind of a fight. I hopped on one of the better jobs I found STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) certification and stuff.”

According to Ms Morgan, those who were unable to attend the jobs fair can still apply at the company.

“We very much need to fill these positions as quickly as possible so we’re hoping for the best. We’re hoping to have a good turn out with successful candidates who can immediately start employment,” she said. “So, we are accepting applications even after the job fair.”