Bright Light
The NZ Maritime School, run by Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT) salutes the new decade with the installation of a state-of-the-art engine room simulator. The new facility represents an additional $1.5 million investment and complements the school’s “bridge” simulator.Students of the school experience the real workings of a sea vessel in the simulators, whether on [...] Full Story

Manpower Concerns
President of a Lagos based maritime media group, Mr. Leye Ajaiyi said the one better way of establishing the Federal Government’s commitment to the maritime industry in terms of capacity building as well as human capital development was the institution of the National Seafarers Development Programme (NSDP).Speaking recently at a two-day seminar on the role [...] Full Story

Manning Demand
With a huge orderbook of almost 800 new building vessels, most of which are expected to hit the water within the next couple of years, it’s becoming even more important for the Hellenic shipping industry to attract more youth within its ranks, in order to effectively man these vessels, especially when it comes to officers, [...] Full Story

Crime Co-Op
In Somalia’s main pirate lair of Haradheere, the sea gangs have set up a cooperative to fund their hijackings offshore, a sort of stock exchange meets criminal syndicate. Heavily armed pirates from the lawless Horn of Africa nation have terrorized shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean and strategic Gulf of Aden, which links Europe to Asia [...] Full Story

Call Of Duty
To the tales of fighter pilots training on PC flight simulators we can now add the one about the boatload of sailors learning the ropes through a Sony PSP. The story comes from the UK’s Royal Navy, which has just invested £50,000 in 230 PlayStation Portable handhelds to help marine engineers prepare for exams. Scheme to expand As [...] Full Story

Electrifying News
South Tyneside Marine College have teamed up with Northumbria University to offer a new Foundation Degree for Electro Technical Officers (ETO). This is the first year the course will be running and is the only training facility in the country offering this pilot qualification. The Foundation Degree for ETO’s covers a range of electronic and [...] Full Story

Happy Days
Mostafa Ghobadi, a former South Tyneside College Marine Students has sent a heart warming e mail to the college expressing fond memories from his time in South Tyneside. Mostafa, aged 52 from Iran studied at South Tyneside College from 1977 – 1981 in a special group of Deck Cadets where he was awarded his Class [...] Full Story

Training Scheme
Youngsters from Jersey looking for a career at sea could learn the ropes of maritime life through a new scheme funded by the Port of Jersey and UK mariner organisation Trinity House.The four-year scholarship will train students at nautical schools or universities before shipping them out to sea. Only one or two students will be selected each [...] Full Story

Mariner Exchange
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and NSSPL, the ship management business unit of Neptune Orient Lines which manages APL vessels, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalise a new Mariner Exchange Programme on October 26.The pilot Mariner Exchange Programme, which will commence next month, will help staff development at the MPA, [...] Full Story

Recruitment Drive
Norwegian shipping firm Torvald Klaveness Group (TKG) said it will continue to hire hundreds more Filipino seafarers in the coming years as the company expands its fleet on expectations that the world economy to recover. Chairman Tom Erik Klaveness said on Wednesday (15 Sept) the company will prioritize the employment of Filipino seafarers in the new [...] Full Story