“The face of seafarer training in South Africa and Africa has changed permanently. The newly- acquired Dedicated Training Vessel, ‘SA Agulhas’ provides seagoing berths for South African and other African nationals. The vessel can carry up to 70 Cadets at a time, including four dedicated Training Officers.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is the custodian of this ambitious project. Seagoing Cadets outside of South Africa are included as part of the ‘Into Africa’ development and upliftment strategy.
“The face of seafarer training in South Africa and Africa has changed permanently. The newly- acquired Dedicated Training Vessel, ‘SA Agulhas’ provides seagoing berths for South African and other African nationals. The vessel can carry up to 70 Cadets at a time, including four dedicated Training Officers.
The South African Maritime Safety Authority (SAMSA) is the custodian of this ambitious project. Seagoing Cadets outside of South Africa are included as part of the ‘Into Africa’ development and upliftment strategy.
Since November 2012, 12 Cadets from Ghana, Cameroon, The Gambia and Cote D’Ivoire were trained on the ‘SA Agulhas’. The Cadets are all Graduates from RMU (Regional Maritime University, Accra, Ghana) the Cadets sailed with the vessel from West Africa, to the UK, to South Africa, and also down to Crown Bay (70 degrees South!), as part of ‘The Coldest Journey’ delivery crew to Antarctica.
They have all gathered around five months STCW recognized sea time, counting towards a Deck or Engineer Officer of the Watch qualification. Even though they have progressed very well, further training berths are hard to come by and they are currently at risk of not being able to obtain their Certificates of Competency.
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