NMU in report on maritime transport

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Tuesday, 10 May 2011  | 

The Northern Maritime University (NMU) is represented in the trade report “Strengthening the potential of the maritime transport” published by the PRESS4TRANSPORT consortium.

NMU project partner Lisa Loloma Froholdt visualised the NMU solutions on how to provide business managers in the North Sea Region with knowledge from trans-national universities in order to cope with future challenges. She claims that the NMU project has the potential to be applied Europe-wide and to be developed further for a sustainable European Maritime Transport sector.

The report is a publication by the PRESS4TRANSPORT consortium on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport. The so called “thematic fiche” focuses on European maritime transport solutions. It highlights the importance of fostering the following key factors: intermodality, trans-national and international collaboration, and sustainable management of the seas from a Northern European perspective. Responsible scientific partner is the Maritime Development Center of Europe, a partner organisation of NMU.

Click here for download of the report 

Click here for more information

NMU contacts in Brazil

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Monday, 09 May 2011  | 

NMU, with its commitment to contribute to the sustainability of the maritime industry in the North Sea Region, recognizes the global scope of the industry and wants to extend the network of stakeholders and of potential beneficiaries of the project. Brazil has a growing maritime industry and is in the process of organizing their maritime cluster. Brazil’s significance cannot be missed out by the maritime cluster in the North Sea area. Hence, NMU project member Enrico Lobrigo visited the Brazilian maritime cluster and promoted the transnational network of universities. Within his journey, Enrico Lobrigo succeeded to get in touch with important maritime players in Brazil who are interested in being part of the NMU network and are keen on having an active exchange of experiences. Contacts have been established with institutions and shipping companies such as Syndarma (Union of Brazilian Shipowners), CIAGA Maritime College, Department of Ports and Coasts of the Brazilian Navy, Transpetro/Petrobras, CBO Offshore Shipping, and NORSUL Navigation.

How to meet future demands in Maritime Industry. Interview with Tine Westerberg.

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Thursday, 05 May 2011  | 

The Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA) has about 160 members from the tank and bulk transport sector, the short sea sector and offshore activities. The goal of NSA is to be a driving force for debate on corporate social responsibility in the shipping industry business and to offer solutions for sustainable development. One of its main objectives is to ensure that members have access to sufficient numbers of highly qualified employees at sea and ashore. That perfectly matches the aim of NMU: providing a rounded education for future maritime professionals.

NMU project member Harald Martin Hjelle spoke with Tine Viveka Westerberg, project manager at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA), a NMU stakeholder, about hot to meet the future needs of the maritime industry.

Harald Hjelle (HH): The Norwegian fleet is one of the largest in the world. Is there a strong focus on human resource development among Norwegian shipowners?
Tine Viveka Westerberg (TVW): Human resource development has been a focus among Norwegian ship owners for a long time. The increased complexity in both maritime operations, logistics, contracting, engineering and other areas have made the focus necessary. The focus is both on board and on shore. On board the Norwegian ships the focus on competence has always been at the forefront of the development in international regulations. On shore human resource development has been increasing over time.

HH: What are the main challenges for the maritime industry with respect to human resources in the years to come?
TVW: The environmental challenges, the demands for more efficient shipping and the advanced maritime operations the industry is facing will increase the demand for specialised human resources, both on shore and on board the ships.
To meet the demands from a more specialised fleet, especially in the offshore industry, maritime education needs to be coordinated and educational institutions must build expertise within chosen fields to be able to educate future seafarers best. The complexity of our industry’s operation also leads to a great demand for engineers.

HH: What kind of initiatives and actions related to higher maritime education does the NSA engage in?
TVW: The NSA supports several initiatives related to higher maritime education. We have a close relationship with several Norwegian universities and colleges to create activity with a focus on the maritime industry. We organise introductory lectures on the maritime industry, invite guest lecturers in specialised topics, and arrange seminars and conferences for students. In addition we offer students possibilities to write papers in cooperation with the industry. We also arrange visits to companies and ships. All this is organised within the framework of our project called “Maritime Career” for more information about this see www.maritimkarriere.no. We also have a close relationship with several institutions on projects, both within research and education.
We have a research initiative called the Global Maritime Knowledge Hub (GMKH). Its main aim is to finance chairs at leading Norwegian academic environments, and through that contribute to research, development and education that will ensure Norway’s position as a knowledge hub in the global maritime industry. Through this the Norwegian maritime industry will become more attractive as a host country. So far we have financed 21 professors at six Norwegian institutions, sponsored by 21 different companies in the maritime industry. The chairs are mainly technological, with green technology as a main focus, but other research areas are also included. We are now looking into several new areas of research, namely LNG, sustainability, law, insurance and business development. You can find more information about this at www.knowledgehub.no.
What makes the Norwegian maritime industry special is the close cooperation within the country’s maritime cluster. To make sure that the newly educated professionals have a thorough understanding of the whole value chain we offer a trainee program called “Maritime Trainee”. This is a program that combines work and an academic program over the first two years of a career. For more information about this please visit: www.maritimtrainee.no.

HH: Thank you very much!

NMU newsletter in April 2011 published

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Thursday, 14 April 2011  | 

The NMU project partners are delighted to inform you that the 6th edition of their newsletter is launched.

Highlights of the newsletter this time:

• Interview with Ms. Ulrike Zirwen, Head of Marketing Department of Hanseatic Lloyd
• Interview with Tine Westerberg, Project Manager of Norwegian Shipowners' Association
• Interview with Mr Steen Sabinsky, CEO of Maritime Development Centre of Europe
• Portrait of new NMU partners: the University of Hamburg and the Maritime Development Centre of Europe (MDCE), Copenhagen
• "NMU New Specialised Modules under Development" – an update of NMU activities

Download the NMU Newsletter April 2011

Successful seminar on Maritime Logistics in Molde

Written by Gesine Stück  |  Wednesday, 23 March 2011  | 

On March 11th more than 40 students, scholars and representatives from the maritime industry cluster participated in a one-day-seminar on maritime logistics in Molde, Norway. The seminar was hosted by the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association (NSA)  in cooperation with NMU and Molde University College.

The day was opened by NSAs project manager Westerberg – presenting the Norwegian maritime industry. The NMU project was presented by associate professor Harald M. Hjelle. Wilson and Wilh. Wilhelmsen, speakers from the Norwegian shipowners, focused on logistics challenges and innovative logistics solutions within their operations. Deputy director Torstein Mørkve from Det Norske Veritas dealt with mapping environmental performance across the maritime logistic chains, whearas associate professor Bjørnar Aas from Molde University College ended the program by dealing with offshore logistics, a key business in Western Norway.