On Thursday 14th October, the International Maritime Employers’ Council (@IMEC.Training) based in the UK and the Kherson State Maritime Academy (KSMA) based in the Ukraine, signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the commencement of a cadet programme. The new relationship will give the academy’s cadets access to training berths onboard some of the fifteen thousand merchant ships that IMEC Members operate.
IMEC brings extensive experience of large-scale cadet programmes to the relationship, having ran a cadet programme in the Philippines over the past twelve years, with over fifteen hundred graduates and another one thousand cadets currently under training. KSMA, a leading academy in the Ukraine, can trace its heritage back to 1834 and has been established as the academy of choice for several IMEC Members.
Speaking after the virtual signing, IMEC’s Head of Training and Operations, Mr. Adam Lewis said:
“Whilst the signing of this MOA marks the start of our new relationship with the Kherson State Maritime Academy, we are by no means new partners. IMEC, alongside it’s social partners the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) invested over three million dollars in training projects inthe Ukraine in 2016, the large proportion of which was directed to the academy to fund a new dynamic positioning simulator and to overhaul their boat station and fireground. However, more recently our Members have expressed their desire for the organisation to commence a more permanent training programme in the country, in recognition of the growing influence that Ukrainian seafarers are playing in international shipping. We are extremely excited about this programme and feel that it will not only provide huge benefit to the academy’s cadets but will also allow more IMEC Members to include the Ukraine as part of their crewing strategies”.
Dr. Vasyl Cherniavskyi, Rector of the KSMA added:
“Kherson maritime school is well-known and reputable in the world, it is almost two hundred years old. It is ten years now that our educational establishment has the status of Academy. Such status became possible thanks to support of reliable international partners and their direct participation in the process of education and training of future seafarers. Cooperation with International Maritime Employers’ Council during previous five years has become a story of success. Thanks to joint investment projects, KSMA has modern education and training facilities.
I hope that the new stage of our relationships will provide the momentum for better adaptation of Ukrainian maritime education to requirements of employers and for deeper integration of Ukrainian seafarers into world shipping industry.
It will be the honour for the Academy to educate and train cadets under the auspices of IMEC for the leading shipping companies of the world.”
The first batch of the IMEC cadet programme will be interviewed in February next year and will commence their sea phase on Members’ vessels in June.
About IMEC
The International Maritime Employers’ Council (IMEC) is the only international employers’ organisation dedicated to maritime industrial relations. Established over fifty years ago, we operate from offices in Hampshire, UK and Manila in the Philippines and represent over 250 shipping companies located all over the world.
Our members are individual shipping companies, both owners and managers, large and small, operating all types of ships including dry bulk, container, cruise liners, livestock carriers, reefers and tankers. Together they operate more than 15,000 vessels registered in more than 60 different countries and employ more than 300,000 seafarers of 68 different nationalities.
