Participating in the recent signing of the agreement on cooperation between the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) and ship owners and operators Harren and Partner of Bremen, Germany, are: (seated from left) Captain Helmut Heinrich, Globe Ship Management Ltd.; Selim Bagatur, managing director, Bluemar Shipping Ltd.; Heiko Felderhoff, managing director, Harren and Partner Ltd.; Lt. Cmdr. Michael Rodriguez, executive director, Caribbean Maritime Institute; and Marlene Schorlemmer, Harren and Partner local representative. Standing from left are Paul Douglas, assistant librarian; Navelette Bishop, librarian; Daniel Grindley, student representative, CMI; and Garfield Ellis, consulting crewing manager. - CONTRIBUTED
THE CARIBBEAN Maritime Institute (CMI) has signed a ground-breaking agreement with ship owners and operators Harren and Partner of Bremen, Germany.
The agreement is a multifaceted one that will see extensive cooperation in areas such as training, placement of cadets and jobs for officers. It also includes joint exchange of information, ideas and personnel for training, lecturing and operation purposes. The agreement will also ensure a stream of crew for Harren and Partner and their crewing agencies.
At the recent signing ceremony held at the institute, Commander Michael Rodriguez, executive director of CMI, said: "It is very difficult for institutions that train maritime personnel to exist without an alliance with a sound shipping entity. Harren and Partner represents such an entity and with the scope of their operations and the degree to which they dovetail into world shipping, this agreement could see the solving of the issues of placement of our graduates for some time."
Harren and Partner was established in 1989 out of a rich shipping heritage and are owners and operators of over 40 ships - nine of which operate the container feeder services in the Caribbean trade. The company also has an aggressive ship-building programme that will see it adding six new vessels to its fleet over the next three to four years. A brand new training vessel will also be launched later this year in Germany.
In its worldwide trade, the company operates bulk carriers, oil tankers, multi-purpose heavy-lift vessels and container ships. Currently there are 18 CMI cadets on the Harren and Partner vessels and one officer is employed in its bulk carrier fleet.
The company also offers the full span of shipping services that range from financing and ship building to ship operations and technical management.
Heiko Felderhoff, managing director of Harren & Partner, said, "Part of our mandate as a company is to establish partnerships that are both beneficial to our operation and give us a chance to develop shipping generally. We have been operating our container feeder services in the Caribbean for 10 years now and Kingston has been our hub, so it is only natural that we gravitate towards some sort of agreement with the institute."
OPPORTUNITIES FOR STUDENTS
Felderhoff added that there is a worldwide shortage of officers and the institute, if it is strategic in its operation, can benefit from that void. He noted that the great benefit of the agreement is that it provides the opportunity for students, not just to have training, but also a structured career in the industry.
Over the past 10 years or so, the CMI has had problems placing its seafaring graduates in appropriate jobs and, therefore, the signing of this agreement has come at a most opportune time.
The pact will be overseen by a committee that includes members of the wider shipping industry and reports directly to the CMI board of directors.
Since its inception in 1980, the Caribbean Maritime Institute has trained officers and crew to serve on ships of every size. Its first full captain was commissioned seven years after its inception and since then the CMI has held its own as the source of officers and crew for the Caribbean, with graduates also serving in senior positions on ships worldwide.
The CMI also offers a wide and diversified range of technical and management courses to suit the shore-based maritime industry.
