Carnival Cruise Line (CCL) is partnering with Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) and STI, one of the largest networks of colleges and schools in the Philippines.
The aim is to assist Filipinos in taking up maritime studies and working on board the lines fleet of 24 cruise ships.
Carnival Cruise Line Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Bettina Deynes and Vice President for Crew and Travel Operations, Richard Brearley, were recently in Manila, Philippines to announce the partnership.
PMMA will provide training programmes in various merchant marine fields to prepare Pinoy students for shipboard training on Carnival ships, as well as work with the company in selecting students who will receive cadetship, internship and employment opportunities.
STI Educational Services Group (STI ESG) and STI Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Institute (STI NAMEI) will develop curriculum in Manila for courses related to culinary and housekeeping.
Part of the partnership involves exploring the possibility of recruiting STI NAMEI marine transportation and marine engineering graduates for potential employment with Carnival.
According to Deynes, investing in the Philippines and partnering with PMMA and STI is about providing further career opportunities to Filipinos.
“Along with bringing a lot of expertise and knowledge, the Filipino community is strong among Carnival’s shipboard team members and embodies our values and brand essence of having fun, so Carnival wants to go beyond providing traditional roles. We want to broaden the roles that they are qualified to fill including non-traditional roles such as those within nautical operations,” she said.
“Filipino people comprise a large population of our workforce,” added Brearley. “We are proud to take a further step to help develop those future team members while they are still in school, providing them with more career choices.”
The partnership will also give opportunities to maritime students from other areas of the country. As a result, Carnival and its recruitment agency United Philippine Lines (UPL) have been working together to create a system that aims to develop potential seafarers outside of Manila.
STI ESG President and COO, Monico Jacob, said. “With our partnership with Carnival, our students can be confident that they will get the best training and they have somewhere to go once they graduate.”
