Castrol Marine has appointed Maersk Training as a global non-exclusive distributor of Castrol Academy, a module-based training course designed to help marine engineers develop a broad range of skills to move the industry forwards.
Castrol Academy training collateral, which includes printed course materials and DVDs, will be redistributed by Maersk Training. This will enable Castrol Marine to take advantage of Maersk Training’s established global infrastructure to promote Castrol Academy in order to deliver engineering expertise to new and existing customers of both companies.
The agreement also encompasses the promotion of Maersk Training courses to Castrol customers. The Danish-based learning provider has, over the past three decades, built a broad portfolio of courses specifically developed for the maritime, offshore and wind-power industries. Through this agreement Castrol customers will receive a 10% discount when booking a Maersk Training course.
Castrol Academy was developed in direct response to an industry-wide problem: a recent survey by the Institute of Engineering and Technology revealed that 55% of those polled reported problems recruiting experienced, well-trained technical ship crews.
Albert Chan, Global Offer Director for Castrol Marine, said: “Lack of skilled marine officers is pushing up operating costs and holding back the development of fleets. Castrol Academy was created to help address increasing fears of crew shortages while providing a source of added value to customers such as improving efficiencies.
Albert added: “We are very excited to work with Maersk Training which is leading the industry in marine training programmes. This deal will enable Castrol Academy to reach a broader audience, demonstrating the added value of working with Castrol as lubricants supplier by providing access to the wide-ranging courses of Maersk Training and helping to close the skills gap threatening the industry. It will also complement Maersk Training’s training portfolio making this an excellent partnership for both companies.”
Like Castrol Academy, Maersk Training was established in response to the perceived industry-wide problem of paper certification not necessarily matching real-life capabilities and performance.
This year the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group merged all its educational entities under Maersk Training and Svendborg in Denmark became the headquarters for specialist training centres in Aberdeen and Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the UK, Esbjerg in Denmark, Chennai in India, Port Harcourt in Nigeria with other branch activities in Norway, Angola and the Middle East.
Hans Dürke Bloch-Kjær, Chief Sales & Marketing Officer for Maersk Training said: “This has been a monumental year for Maersk Training and the tie-in with Castrol is no small highlight. In many ways the Castrol Academy underlines one of our core targets, the desire to push the learning boundaries so that no matter where the participant is they can benefit and improve their performance through an appropriate teaching tool.”