Svitzer establishes Regional Training Centre in Bahamas

Svitzer, part of the A.P. Moller – Maersk Group, have over 4,000 employees and operates more than 400 vessels globally. An operation of such scale with diverse areas of towing and other activity demands the best possible training opportunities to achieve both safe and efficient operations.

Developed by Force Technology of Denmark the simulator is located in Freeport, close to Grand Bahama International Airport and is operated by Svitzer in association with Freeport Harbour Company and Mediterranean Shipping Company. The simulator contains stations for ships being assisted along with two harbour tugs and will be used by pilots and tug masters from around the world using established methods of training by exposing those involved to real-life operational situations but in a safe and controlled environment.

A strong presence of Grand Bahama government ministers attended the official opening ceremony and the centre is particularly welcome for the Grand Bahama maritime community. Minister for Grand Bahama Dr Michael Darville stressed that with the proposed expansion of the College of The Bahamas maritime programmes outlined by Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald, he is certain the College will develop a close working relationship with the internationally accredited regional training centre, creating additional training opportunities for students enrolled in the maritime programme at the College’s Northern Campus.

Marinus Lorwa, chief operating officer Svitzer Americas spoke on behalf of Svitzer and recalled that back in 2006, the company was known as Freepoint Tug & Towing Services (incorporated in 1996) and was in fact a joint venture with South Riding Point Holdings, at that time with five tugs. Subsequently the company underwent several changes of structure and ownership until 2006 when Svitzer acquired 50% ownership, and 2012 when they acquired the interest of Statoil South Riding Point, becoming 100% owner. Svitzer’s approach has been to develop local organisations and to team-up with other stakeholders to improve the lot of their employees and the local maritime industry, an approach followed in the Bahamas. Their tug fleet moved from five vessels of lower bollard pull to a fleet of six tugs.

Svitzer’s head of Marine Standards for Americas Region, Albert Snoei said: “Svitzer is expanding its operations in Caribbean and Latin-America and in the next coming years, many new colleagues in the region need to be trained in operating ASD tugs. We identified Freeport as the ideal location to set up a training centre. Taking advantage of the great boat-handling abilities of our Bahamian captains, we identified some highly-skilled training masters which can transfer their knowledge to others.”

By Peter Barker