ITS Sustainable Mobility Maritime Transport Foundation and Costa Group Have Signed a Cooperation Agreement: 12 Months on Board and 1200 Hours of Lessons for the Training of New Engineer Officers

NAPLES, Italy, March 11, 2019 /3BL Media/ — Today at the headquarters of Regione Campania (Sala De Sanctis, Via Santa Lucia), eng. Felice Siciliano, President of the ITS MSTM Foundation (Sustainable Maritime Transport Mobility), and Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises, signed - in the presence of the Education Councillor Lucia Fortini - an important cooperation agreement: Costa Group will work with the ITS Foundation in the training of students who are preparing to become engineer officers. The course, which is the result of the agreement, aims to prepare fifteen graduates to become third engineer officers with 12 months of embarkation and 1200 hours of lessons, with the goal of raising the level of the skills and competences of future officers.

The commitment of Regione Campania in the field of Higher Technical Education is considerable, both in terms of financing the courses and orientation and development of young people into the world of work. In November 2018, the ITS Sustainable Mobility Maritime Transport Foundation launched the second edition of the course for engineer officers, a unique project financed by the Regione Campania and coordinated by the Nino Bixio Nautical Institute of Piano di Sorrento.

Costa Cruises will take care of the training of participants during the 12 months that the students will spend on board, this means that Costa will train them in cruise-specific content and convey some knowledge related to Costa’s HESS (Health, Environment, Safety, Security) standards. Once on board, the participants will have to put into practice the theoretical knowledge acquired during class hours and achieve high quality standards. This is a very important agreement through which Costa recognizes the value of the maritime experience of Campania and chooses to train future officers by investing in students of technical institutes in the area. Regione Campania, the first in Italy for the number of seafarers, has a great tradition in the training of nautical students, which is why many young people, from other regions of Italy, have chosen to study in Piano di Sorrento.

The Director Maritime Training of Carnival Maritime, Caroline Baumgaertner, will meet the participants and coordinate, with the Nino Bixio Nautical Institute, the training of the fifteen selected students who will embark on board Costa ships: “We will widen their horizon and will benefit from their fresh ideas”, she summarize.

"As ITS of the sea of Campania we are committed to provide to the market of the economy of the sea the experts of tomorrow" - President Siciliano affirmed - "the system of nautical education adopted by the MIUR (Italian Ministry of Education, Universities & Research) sees in the nautical ITS the joining link that assures the passage from the general formation of the school to the professional and specialized one, guaranteeing also the acquisition of the certifications provided from the normative in force. The synergy between education, research and employment systems is increasingly relevant to the strategies of professional qualification to build solid employment opportunities.”

"It is an important opportunity for our young people, for professional and human training. We believe that employment opportunities in the maritime sector are growing rapidly. It is a question of intercepting them by working to improve the quality of training for young people. For generations our territory and our institute have been expressing very talented officers who work with the most important shipping companies in the world. Even more we must contribute to keep high this tradition of which we are proud."
said Teresa Farina, Headmaster of the Nautical Institute Nino Bixio of Piano di Sorrento and director of the course ITS.

"This agreement further strenghtens Costa's commitment to train and create new professional employment opportunities for young Italians. Our Company is at the first place in terms of the number of Italian officers and seafarers, around 2.500, employed on board of our ships all flying the Italian flag. We will strive to infuse to students the passion for this profession, in an increasingly challenging and growing market. Today's signing is also a great emotion for me as the ITS Nino Bixio is the institute where I graduated." concluded Neil Palomba, President of Costa Cruises.