1,000 new seafarers register on first day of V.Group's new Manila Training Center
Maritime services provider V.Group, together with its third party ship management arm, V.Ships, are celebrating the inauguration of a new office and training center in Manila, Philippines.
The recently opened center is located in the Philippines’ Aseana City district. Ocupying 6,700 square meters over five floors of the new Aseana II building, the state-of-the-art facility is the single biggest investment by V.Group in its history and is intended to become a center of excellence for the group.
Accommodating a growing workforce of 270 full time management and admin employees, the facilities include a crew manning suite which saw the arrival of 1,000 seafarers on its opening day to register with the group. In addition, an array of training facilities are provided, including a full mission bridge and engine room simulator, a culinary and hospitality instruction center, which can cater for almost 400 visitors per day, two housekeeping areas which fully replicate the luxury accommodation of a cruise liner, an officers’ mess and a full suite of classrooms and auditoriums.
V.Group said the new opening is testament to the importance of the Philippines as the principal recruitment ground for professional crew in the world.
The V.Group/V.Ships representative in the Philippines, Jamie Stewart commented, “These new offices will increase our capacity to manage and train seafarers with a wide range of skills to the highest international standards. We are now able to offer a service facility which is second to none and includes recruitment, technical training, culinary training, operations, commercial, purchasing, technical support and IT which positions the group at the heart of not only Asia, but the global shipping community.”
Included in the new office complex are V.Group’s local partners Pacific Ocean Manning, North Sea Marine, V.Manpower and Kestral Shipping Inc.