A P Moller-Maersk to open exclusive facility to train cadets in Tamil Nadu

Danish container logistics giant A P Moller-Maersk Group A/S will open an exclusive facility to train cadets it hires from India by operating a centre of excellence jointly with the Academy of Maritime Education and Training (AMET) University at Thenpattinam in Tamil Nadu.

A P Moller-Maersk, which runs Maersk Line, the world’s biggest container shipping line, will invest in the facility, spread over eight acres of land (32,375 sq mt) and will be a part of a larger 12 acre (48,500 sq mt) maritime campus set up by AMET, a top company official said.

The investment will happen in a phased manner, the company said without disclosing details.

“Currently, Maersk does not have any exclusive training facility in India for its cadets. We are relying on multiple colleges for training them,” Niels Bruus, Head of Marine Human Recourses at Maersk said after laying the foundation stone for the planned facility on Friday.

Maersk signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with AMET University to jointly operate the facility, aiming to maintain a steady channel of Indian seafarers for its operations.

Currently, Maersk Line has some 850 Indian cadets working on its ships.

The centre of excellence facility seeks to support skill development and training needs for Maersk cadets across job functions (deck, electrical and engine).

“The A. P. Moller – Maersk Centre of Excellence will help us focus our skill development efforts on a single location, especially in a country like India from where we have the highest recruitment of cadets in the world. We hope to inspire our cadets to explore horizons beyond their own by synergizing AMET’s 25-plus years’ experience in maritime education and our vision to train our cadets in a world class training facility, building enhanced collaboration between company and academia,” Bruus said.

“We want to add more value to the training standards during school phase of our cadets. There is a gap between theoretical syllabus and important competency needs on our modern container vessels. This is the gap that we are looking forward to plug at our centre,” Bruus added.

The centre will be equipped with world class facilities’ like smart classrooms, workshops, and will house approximately 160 deck and engine cadets for Bachelor’s programme in Nautical Science and Marine Engineering. Additionally, electrical cadets will be taken in as per requirement on yearly basis.

“By partnering with Maersk to set up the centre of excellence, we will raise the bar in maritime education,” said J Ramachandran, Chancellor of AMET University.

Maersk and AMET are looking to bring opportunities for aspiring seafarers to be trained in world class facilities enabled by modern teaching aids, well equipped workshops for practical training, marine workshop for hands-on training on marine auxiliaries, ship-in-campus and other such facilities backed by an overall conducive learning environment at this centre, A P Moller-Maersk said.

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