Leeuwin cadetship program opens door for the marine industry

A group of current and former cadets say their time on board the STS Leeuwin II has opened many doors for them in the marine industry. The Leeuwin cadetship provides young people each year the funding to achieve certificates in different areas, including Certificate III in Maritime Operations, certificate of safety training and AMSA Certificate of Medical Fitness. The program runs for a year and provides a career pathway into the marine industry. Will Hancock said he had learned a lot being part of the program. “From doing this, we get a bunch of sea time, a bunch of experience and a couple of qualifications and after this we get thrown out to the big, wild world,” he said. “We get to apply what we learned with our qualifications and skills.” Eve Pattiselanno is a current cadet and said she first got involved as a volunteer for Leeuwin. “I’ve been volunteering for about four years and during my school years, I decided I didn’t want to continue school and decided to come sailing for a year,” she said. “I stuck around, tried to prove myself that I could get the cadetship this year and I was offered it in March this year.” Ms Pattiselanno said she would like to follow the engineering path in the marine industry. “I enjoy figuring out how things work and then also problem solving and working with my hands,” she said. So far, Mr Hancock and Ms Pattiselanno have completed their certificate of safety training. Former cadet Tom Keily finished his cadetship in March this year and is now looking towards a heavy diesel apprenticeship. “The great thing about the cadetship is you get to, not only learn about deck, but you also learn about engineering so you can really choose what pathway you want to follow,” he said. Leeuwin chief officer Nick Sambrooks said 85 per cent of former cadets had gone into a career within the marine industry.