Wednesday, 30 November 2011

SUCCESSFUL NAFC MARINE CENTRE CADET PROGRAMME EXPANDS

The NAFC Marine Centre is expanding its Merchant Navy Deck Officer Cadet programme with a second intake of deck cadets in February 2012 to meet an increasing demand from the shipping industry and sponsors for quality trainees from Scotland. Shetland School of Nautical Studies (SSNS) has been considering this for some time and the decision has been made to take an additional deck cadets onto the programme starting on 20 February 2012.

The expansion is being driven partly by the excellent reputation that SSNS has gained in the short time since the first Shetland cadets started their training in 2004, and partly by UK educational funding changes which have made it more attractive for UK shipping companies to recruit and train their future officers in Scotland in some cases.

Shipping companies and sponsors with cadets from Shetland on their vessels have commented on several occasions about their quality, and are always asking for more recruits to fill their vacancies as they find them to be excellent seafarers, and hardworking and reliable employees.

SSNS hopes to build on this demand with further expansion in due course, although the future shape of Merchant Navy officer cadet training throughout the UK depends to a large extent on the outcome of the review of SMART funding, and we are hoping for a favourable decision from the Minister in January 2012.

Jan Rigden, Head of SSNS, commented: “When we first launched the Merchant Navy officer cadet programmes at SSNS in 2004 it was in no way certain that we would succeed and that we could find a niche for our delivery, so it is gratifying now that the hard work put in by the lecturers at SSNS and all the staff at NAFC Marine Centre is being recognised by the increased demand for our students across the marine industry, despite the recession which is affecting the whole country.”

He went on to say: “There is now an opportunity for us to build on our success and further strengthen the foundations of maritime training at NAFC Marine Centre, which can only be good for the UK maritime industry in the long term." 

Further information:

For further information, or to discuss accommodation or any aspect of the cadet programmes, please contact Jan Rigden at the NAFC Marine Centre, tel 01595 772000

Or Louise Rosie, Shaw Marketing and Design Ltd, tel 01595 692465, email louise.rosie@shaw-online.com or visit www.shaw-online.com