Carnival Cruise Line is partnering with Philippine Merchant Marine Academy (PMMA) and STI, one of the largest networks of colleges and schools in the Philippines, to assist Filipinos in pursuing their dream of taking up maritime studies and working on board the lines fleet of 24 cruise ships. Carnival Cruise Line SVP and Chief Human Resources Officer Bettina Deynes and Vice President for Crew and Travel Operations Richard Brearley were recently in Manila, Philippines for the announcement of the dynamic partnership.

PMMA will provide training programs in various merchant marine fields to prepare Pinoy students for shipboard training on Carnival ships, as well as work with Carnival in selecting students who will receive cadetship, internship and employment opportunities. STI Educational Services Group, Inc. (STI ESG) and STI Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering Institute (STI NAMEI) will develop curriculum in Manila for courses related to culinary and housekeeping. Part of the partnership involves exploring the possibility of recruiting STI NAMEI graduates of marine transportation and marine engineering for potential employment with Carnival.

According to Deynes, investing in the Philippines and partnering with PMMA and STI is about providing further career opportunities to Filipinos.

“Along with bringing a lot of expertise and knowledge, the Filipino community is strong among Carnival’s shipboard team members and embodies our values and brand essence of having fun, so Carnival wants to go beyond providing traditional roles. We want to broaden the roles that they are qualified to fill including non-traditional roles such as those within nautical operations,” she said.

“Filipino people comprise a large population of our workforce,” added Brearley.  “We are proud to take a further step to help develop those future team members while they are still in school, providing them with more career choices.”

The partnership will also give opportunities to maritime students not just from the country’s capital but from other areas of the country as well. To this end, Carnival and its recruitment agency United Philippine Lines (UPL) have been working together in creating a system that aims to develop potential seafarers outside Manila. Carnival is also working with its recruiting partner, United Philippine Lines, to create a system to develop potential seafarers’ skills in several regions of the Philippines.

STI ESG President and COO Monico Jacob expressed the company’s pride in partnering with Carnival. “With our partnership with Carnival, our students can be confident that they will get the best training and they have somewhere to go once they graduate,” Jacob noted.