ITE students set sail for a Superyacht career through exclusive partnership with Tall Ship Adventures

Tall Ship Adventures Pte Ltd and Institute of Technical Education sign a Memorandum of
Understanding to provide scholarships and training to young Singaporeans

Singapore, 27 January 20155 – Students from the Institute of Technical Education (ITE) will soon be able to embark on careers in the burgeoning Superyacht industry, thanks to an exclusive collaboration between ITE and Tall Ship Adventures Pte Ltd – a local company operating The Royal Albatross, Asia’s only luxury tall ship.

The partnership is the first of its kind to provide local students with training and industry experience to develop their competencies in crewing, passenger handling and safety. Today, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Mr Pete Pela, Managing Director of Tall Ship Adventures, and Mr Bruce Poh, Director & CEO / ITE witnessed by Minister of State (Prime Minister’s Office) Sam Tan. Mr Tan also presented certificates to the first batch of 17 scholarship recipients on board the Royal Albatross, which is berthed at Resorts World Sentosa.

Mr Pete Pela said, “We are very excited to be part of this landmark initiative in Singapore together with ITE, aimed at creating highly skilled, world-class crew for the Superyacht industry around the world. The international Superyacht industry is a burgeoning market that has plenty of career opportunities for people with the right skills and experience – and we are honoured and excited to provide ITE students with an essential first step into a career in this field.”

Mr Bruce Poh added, “We aare privileged to partner enlightened industtrry players like Tall Ship Adventures, who are cocommitted to co-invest in the development and training of our students. The authentic experience and active learning gained by our students on board Royal Albatross are invaluable for future career opportunities in the Supper Yacht industry. Besides broadening their skill, our students also experience elements off fun and adventure working in such a niche industry.

After a successful one-year r pilot training programme that began in January 2014, the partnership will continue for aanother two years, making it three years of sscholarships which are altogether worth over $250 000. Tall Ship Adventures will offer 20 scholarships annually to students in the Passenger Services course taught by ITE Colleges. The scholarships provides training in general seamanship and passenger management and requires 12 full days and two nights of training on board the Royal Albatross. Upon successful completion of the training, students will be awarded the Royal Yachting Association’s globally-recognise Competent Crew Certificate, and Tall Ship Passenger Management Certificate, a specially designed accreditation recognised by the Maritime Port Authority.

In addition to the scholarships, Tall Ship Adventures will provide up to eight industry attachments to the Institution for a period of 18 weeks and assist in securing up to 12 further attachment opportunities within the Superyacht industry. The MOU also provides a framework for a collaboration on knowledge and expertise to develop world-class human capital for the Superyacht industry.

The MOU signing is one of the first concrete initiatives to answer the Ministry of Manpower’s call to reduce dependency on foreign manpower and encourage productivity improvements, by providing local students with knowledge and training in this niche yet burgeoning industry.

Mr YP Loke, Chairman of Singapore Boating Industry Association, the collective voice of Singapore’s recreational boating industry said, “The ITE-Tall Ship Adventure Training scheme is an important step in developing training at the level. With recent vocational changes to manpower regulations, it has become imperative to develop a local source for entry to, and career progression in the boating industry. Attracting Singaporeans to the industry has been and remains a challenge. Formalised training to acquire a valuable boating skill set that is usable and in demand worldwide is key to inducting new blood into our industry. We congratulate e ITE and Tall Ship Adventures on this pioneering endeavour in yacht training.”

“This truly is a meaningful endeavour for us, especially for the ITE students who are able to get the chance to experience The Royal Albatross, Asia’s only luxury taall ship,” added Mr Pela. “Our first batch of ‘cadets’, as we call them, showed excellent potential and we’re excited for them to set sail for r future in Superyachting.”

About Tall Ship Adventures Pte Ltd

Founded in 2008, Tall Ship AdAdventures Pte Ltd is a Singapore-based company dedicated to deliver unique world-class experiences on board its luxury tall ship, the Royal Albatross. With a network of partners and clients, Tall Ship Adventures Pte Ltd is a leader in the Asian Superyacht industry, and continues to use its expertise to push the boundaries in the field of corporate entertaining, private charters and events. For more information, visit https://dev.tallship.com.sg

About Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

The Institute of Technical Education (ITE), Singapore, was established as a postsecondary education institution in 1992 under the Ministry of Education. ITE is a principal provider of career and technical education and key developer of national occupational skills certification and standards to enhance Singapore’s workforce competitiveness. Under its “One ITE System, Three Colleges” Model of Education and Governance, ITE has three Colleges, comprising ITE College Central, ITE College East and ITE College West. For more information, visit www.ite.edu.u.sg

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