Twelve graduates from nine nationalities join 11^th year of V.’s expanded international management programme.

V., the global ship manager and marine services provider, has welcomed one of its largest cohorts in the history of its international management programme, with 12 graduates from nine nationalities joining the business this month. Their arrival brings the total number of graduates recruited through the programme to 88 since it launched 11 years ago.

Much of that growth has come in the past three years. What began as a naval architecture intake within V.Ships has expanded into a group-wide programme that recruits against the needs of V.’s entire platform, from technical and crew management to procurement, insurance broking, digital and commercial functions. The programme has changed as the business has evolved.

Graduates joining this year will participate in a two-year intensive shoreside programme. Graduates complete rotations in V. offices around the world, gaining hands-on experience across four core pathways: specialist skills, operational foundations, strategic projects, and client and commercial insight, before moving into a permanent role.

V. today recruits more graduates than at any point in the programme’s history, and has broadened the intake alongside them. This year’s cohort brings naval architects and marine engineers together with data scientists, economists and business graduates – a mix that mirrors an industry responding at once to digitalisation and AI, decarbonisation, crew shortages and rising geopolitical complexity.

Retention matters to the programme as much as recruitment. It has a strong graduate-to-permanent-role conversion rate that supports V.’s long-term talent management strategy, with structured development and training continuing long after the rotations conclude. Alumni are now embedded across the business, including in many senior leadership roles.

René Kofod-Olsen, Chief Executive Officer, V.Group, speaking at the induction ceremony in Athens, Greece, said: “Look at who has joined us this year. Naval architects, digital scientists, economists and business graduates, from nine countries – from exactly the corners of the world where we navigate and work. Over the next two years they will sit alongside colleagues who have spent their careers at sea and ashore, as well former alumni of this programme and the learning will run in both directions. That is how we get better.

“We don’t run this programme to fill vacancies. We run it because shipping needs people who think differently and bring fresh eyes to problems old and new. That critical thinking and curiosity are integral to our business and our strategy, and an important role for a leading maritime company is to build future leaders who are willing and able to challenge the status quo.

“Our industry is navigating a period of profound change, and the decisions that shape V. a decade from now will be taken by the people joining us today. I am proud to welcome our largest ever cohort, and genuinely excited about what this group will bring.”