CINEC Maritime Campus and the Ceylon Association of Ships' Agents (CASA) have partnered to offer scholarships for CASA members to study at CINEC. The scholarships are for CINEC's Professional Diploma in Shipping Management program. CINEC aims to enhance professionalism in the shipping industry through systematic training programs. Mr. Suranjith Weerakkody and Mr. Upeksha Naotunna were selected for the scholarships based on achieving the highest marks in a written examination assessing their knowledge of basic ship agency functions. The scholarships each cover USD $1,500 of the cost for the Professional Diploma in Shipping Management course.

1. CINEC Maritime Campus offers Scholarships to CASA
In order to enhance the professionalism in the shipping industry Ceylon Association of Ships’ Agents
(CASA) in association with Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College (CINEC)
embarked on a scholarship program for the CASA membership.
The rising demand for Professionals in many industries especially in the Logistics Industry is
obvious given the country’s vision to become the “Wonder of Asia. The Government of Sri
Lanka has embarked on a development agenda based on the Mahinda Chintanaya with the
objective of converting the country to a naval, aviation, commercial, energy and knowledge hub
in Asia. In keeping with this objective, in the recent years, the government has invested heavily
in developing the required infrastructure and the improvement of information and
communication technology. Out of the five hubs that Sri Lanka focuses its attention Naval or
Maritime hub would realize very lucrative dividends to the country.
However, the capacity building that requires with respect to human resource is not an easy task
and never be instant either. Therefore a systematic training and development program is very
vital and timely if not already late. CINEC Maritime Campus is on the right track to produce
human capacity in the field of Maritime, Logistics, Freight Forwarding, and Transport.
There will be many opportunities existing in local firms such as Shipping Line offices, Ports and
Governments, Transport and Logistics firms, Exporting, Importing, Trading & Manufacturing
firms, Educational Institutes, Oil & Gas industry, R & D or consultancy firms. This is an
advantage from the community perspective for those who wish to follow professional courses.
On the other hand there are other benefits of Professional Education to the country as a whole
such as improving the operational efficiency; Reduce errors thus reduce costs; Enhance the
business potential; Effective decision making by staff through widening the domain knowledge;
Increase the impact of “Experience curve advantage”; Creates a competitive advantage to the
firm etc.
About CINEC
CINEC is one of the largest private Higher Education organization in Sri Lanka fully
exemplified by over 15,000 student base that annually follows a range of over 175 educational
and training programmes.CINEC is the training and education partner of CASA and accredited
training institute in Sri Lanka for Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT). CINEC
is approved by the Director General of Merchant Shipping to conduct Freight Forwarding course
for the purpose of applying for annual licenses.

2. CASA in collaboration with CINEC has trained nearly 500 students under “CASA Basic Ship Agency
Functions” course so far. Those who have successfully completed this course conducted by CINEC were
eligible to apply for the Scholarship for the Diploma in Shipping.
The value of two scholarships of “CINEC-Professional Diploma in Shipping Management” is USD 1500.
Selection Criteria
Written examination comprising 40 MCQ questions and one essay type question out of three was to be
answered in 90 minutes. Two candidates who obtained highest marks at the selection examination held on
30th
June 2013 at CINEC Maritime Campus Malabe were selected to offer scholarships.
Mr. Suranjith Weerakkody of Asha Agencies Ltd and Mr. Upeksha Naotunna of MSC Lanka Pvt. Ltd
were qualified to receive the scholarships from the qualifying examination conducted on the 30th June.
From extreme left Mr. Ralph Anandappa Chairman CASA , Prof. (Capt.) Nalaka Jayakody – Vice
President of CINEC, Mr. Upeksha Naotunna of MSC Lanka Pvt , Hon. P.Rohitha Abeygunawardana-
Project Minister of Ports and Highways, Capt. Ajith Peiris – Group Managing Director Ceyline Group &
President of CINEC, Mr. Lalith Edirisinghe – Head of School of CINEC City Branch, Mr. Dhammika
Walgampaya- Secretary General CASA are in the picture.

3. Professional Diploma in Shipping Management
Primary objective of the course is to initiate a reliable progression path for employees to get
themselves professionally qualified in the shipping industry. Lectures will be conducted only on
Sundays at CINEC City Branch, No. 15, Kinross Avenue, Colombo 04 in order to avoid any
work disruption at their respective work stations. Following Modules will be covered in this
program.
• Introduction to Seaborne Trade
• Port Agency and Chartering
• Port Operations and Management
• Documentation in Shipping
• Maritime Law and Marine Insurance
• International Economics
• Industrial Management
• Logistics and SCM
It is plainly visible from the following modules that the respective staff will undergo a well
structured systematic training thus the organization will be benefited through the productivity
and quality improvement. There will be substantial saving to the company as the error rate will
be substantially minimized. CINEC delivers all course using highly qualified industry
professionals as visiting faculty and very senior permanent lectures in the campus. These
students will have a great opportunity to develop an effective network with government officials
in the visiting faculty such as Sri Lanka Customs, SLPA, and Board of Investment of Sri Lanka.
15 % Discount to young staff members of CASA
Presently there is a lack of interest in the society to chose “Shipping” after the school education
as there was no explicit or clear academic path for those who are interested in developing their
carrier in this field. This has been a serious HR (Human Resource) issue for the shipping
companies in Sri Lanka. While this shortcoming has to be addressed through a long term strategy
that involves policy making through government CINEC has identified the need of hour and has
timely facilitated the present workforce in the shipping industry to get they qualified to face
future challenges. Accordingly, CINEC Maritime Campus will offer 15% discount for the young
candidates who have successfully completed the “CASA Basic Ship Agency Functions” course

4. conducted by CINEC. CASA Young Shipping Professional of CASA (YSP of CASA) will
coordinate the scholarship program. Course will commence in August 2013 and those who are
interested may contact CINEC City Branch on 011 4335846-8 for more details.