RMU partners global maritime company
The Regional Maritime University (RMU) has entered into a partnership with Bernhard Schulte Ship Management (BSM), a global maritime solution company, for the training and employment of graduates from the university.
The partnership will also pave the way for BSM to give on-board training to the staff of RMU for them to be abreast of the industry practice by Bernhard Schulte vessels plying the West Coast of Africa.
Already, more than 120 RMU graduates are being trained on Bernhard Schulte (BS) vessels in the highest standards in the maritime industry.
Speaking at the opening of BSM Ghana Office and training centre at the RMU in Accra, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Elvis Nyarko, said the partnership with BSM would also empower RMU to run an advance Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) course in the future.
RMU graduates
He said the BS had granted RMU graduates access to more than 100 ships plying the West Coast of Africa to help contribute to the mandatory shipboard training needed by the cadets to qualify to undertake the certificate of competency courses.
He said there was no doubt that seafaring was a credible panacea to poverty alleviation in the sub region and added: “with the support of organisations such as BS, RMU could build the capacity to make the sub region the source of supply of international seafarers.”
BS vessels targets African cadets
The BSM Chief Operation Officer, Mr Felix Leggewie Arno, said since 2011, the partnership with RMU had exposed graduates of the university to the international standard of maritime practices and BS vessels had also taken on board 82 African cadets.
He stated that African RMU cadets had found their firm place in the Schulte fleet and had since earned the respect of their non-African shipmates.
Mr Arno said since 2013, a total of 26 cadets had been taken from RMU and out of the number, 20 had already become officers. “This confirms our trust in the RMU education and the quality of the cadets taken into our programme,” he added.
Mr Arno, therefore, said BS vessels would continue to take on board cadets from RMU as part of its commitment to train officers of the marine industry.