Fletcher class trains future seamen

As part of local efforts to fill the pressing demand for trained workers, L.E. Fletcher Technical Community College in Houma is offering a free, 18-week program to train men and women to be ordinary and able-bodied seamen beginning Monday, Oct. 15.

Classes will be held at Fletcher’s Louisiana Marine and Petroleum Institute on Dickson Road in Houma. A $10 application fee will be charged. Enrollees must be 18 years of age or older.

Called the Marine Co-op Program, the course is divided into two parts, a 12-week phase and a concluding six-week phase, said Fletcher Public Relations Coordinator Elmy Savoie.

For the 12-week section, students will have six weeks of coursework at the Petroleum Institute campus, followed by six weeks as a paid intern with a local maritime company aboard a working vessel, she said.

Some companies pay more than $100 a day for the internship. Fletcher will assist students with placement.

After completing the 12-week phase, students receive certification as ordinary seamen or deckhands, and can end their training at that point.

Students completing the final six-week phase at the Petroleum Institute will gain a certificate as an able-bodied seaman.

“We don’t encourage them to quit” after becoming ordinary seamen, Savoie said. “They make more money as able-bodied seamen.”

Topics covered as part of the program include orientation, towing operation, basic safety, deck operation, basic engineering, line handling and basic seamanship.

The program is being funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Community-Based Job Training Grants and Louisiana Recovery Authority Recovery Workforce Training Grants.

The labor department program funds community college programs training workers in high-demand industries.

The Louisiana Recovery Authority money is aimed at building the economy of the parts of the state affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

Call Fletcher at (985) 857-3658 to enroll.