The World Maritime University last week signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with MPA Academy, the training arm of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA).
The MoU, according to the management of WMU was to cooperate on global maritime leadership training and capacity building for the international maritime community.
MPA Chief Executive, Andrew Tan and WMU Acting President, Prof Neil Bellefontaine signed the MoU.
The signing ceremony, held in conjunction with the 10th Singapore Maritime Week 2015, was witnessed by Singapores’s Senior Minister of State for Finance and Transport, Josephine Teo and Secretary General for the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Chancellor of WMU, Koji Sekimizu.
The MoU supports the efforts of MPA Academy to reposition itself as a centre of excellence in global maritime leadership training. The agreement provides for cooperation between the two partners on leadership development programmes, as well as exchange of faculty members.
Under the agreement, MPA Academy will also continue the tradition that began in 2004 of hosting WMU students in Singapore for field study visits as a part of the port management specialisation in the WMU Masters Programme.
Andrew Tan said, “We are delighted that MPA Academy is collaborating with WMU to strengthen our academic offerings. At the same time, we will be able to further contribute to WMU’s work in global maritime leadership development. We look forward to both organisations strengthening the many areas of collaboration in training and capacity building.”
Bellefontaine stated, “It is a pleasure to sign this agreement with the MPA Academy which has been a long-time supporter of WMU through hosting field studies for our students. Being able to visit one of the busiest ports in the world is an incredible opportunity that deepens their knowledge of port operations and administration, and supports the maritime-capacity building mission of WMU. We look forward to working with the MPA Academy in new areas of cooperation made possible through this agreement, including leadership development and faculty exchanges.”
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) was established on 2 February 1996, with the mission to develop Singapore as a premier global hub port and international maritime centre and to advance and safeguard Singapore’s strategic maritime interests.
Meanwhile, WMU was a co-organizer of the 2015 Swedish Maritime Day (SMD) event that took place last week Monday.
The maritime day was opened by the Swedish Minster of Infrastructure, Anna Johansson, is the largest maritime conference in Sweden and gathers stakeholders from across the maritime sector namely industry, academia, government institutions, politics and interest groups.
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