The Propeller Club was formed in Manila in 1971 and the founding members were connected with the U.S liner companies. Today we have members from all sectors of the local shipping scene and from companies supporting the maritime industry. We hold luncheon meetings on the third or fourth Wednesday of each month during which members can network together and listen to a guest speaker.
We embarked on the scholarship programme back in 1990 sponsoring young men from very disadvantaged families who were enrolled in a Fitter Machinist course at Don Bosco Technical School, Makati. At the beginning of the millennium there were 10 students graduating from the programme annually but the extent of training was limited to Don Bosco only as this was all the Club could afford at the time. We received a tremendous boost in 2005 when we secured funding from the Australian Government (AUSAID) through the Salvation Army Development Office, Australia, which allowed us to greatly enhance the programme. In addition to the Don Bosco education, the extra funding from AUSAID enabled the Club to set up supplementary training models and procedures so that the scholars upon graduation were ready for employment on ocean-going ships. AUSAID sponsored the first three batches of the expanded programme and subsequent main sponsors have been TK Foundation, Swire, Mideast Ship Management, Wallem Ship Management, Grieg Shipping, Geofield Ship Management, International Maritime Training Trust (IMTT), International Maritime Employer's Council (IMEC) and Sailors' Society.
Concurrent with the Fitter-Machinist batches, we previously also had culinary scholars who underwent a course at the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (ISCAHM) with a view to the graduates being employed as trainee cooks on board ships. With the establishment of the culinary programme, we were able to include female scholars for the first time. Since COVID we have been focusing just on the Fitter-Machinist training however female scholars are now included in this category.
Up to now there have been 587 graduates of the Propeller Club scholarship programme who are from the poorest of the poor families all over the Philippines.
There are an additional 28 (23 males and 5 females) of Batch#25 in the pipeline who are now under training at Don Bosco and due to graduate next year.
This batch is sponsored by Swire Bulk and Swire Shipping with additional funding from Peter Dohle Schiffahrts-KG through Dohle Shipmanagement Philippines.
