SaltyJobs.co

Exciting New Partnership

We are very excited to announce a new partnership between SaltyJobs and the South West Maritime Academy.

Based at a quarry in Gloucestershire, we went to meet owner Johnathan Davies and his colleague Nick. They gave us a fantastic tour of their facilities and we talked a lot about working in the maritime industry.

With a background in the Royal Marines, John has run his maritime training business for over seven years.

What Makes A Good Training Centre?

Over the last eleven years, I have undertaken all of the RYA training up to Commercial Yachtmaster Offshore standard. I have been on a lot of courses run by many different sea schools and maritime training organisations.

It’s easy for the bad experiences to stick out: the classroom instructor more interested in his dog than our lesson. But the good ones are very strong too. My favourite was the family-run sailing school which victualled all of their sailing courses with an enormous home-made cake. Yum.

Great Facilities In A Convenient Location

SaltyJobs recently moved to Bristol and started chatting with the South West Maritime Academy, just half an hour from us in the city centre.

Their facilities are impressive. Set next to Cromhall Quarry, the Academy was largely built by John himself, with features including old police cells. The Academy has that rough-and-ready, rugged real-life feel. This appeals to their trainees, particularly the tall ship crew (notoriously rough and rugged).

Bristol Harbour and T. Nielsen & Co’s shipyard in Gloucester are home to many tall ships. It is a requirement for tall ship sailors to have their STCW Basic Safety Training. Crews from local ship such as Kaskelot, Earl of Pembroke and The Matthew are all local and regularly take courses at the South West Maritime Academy.

Their base is also ideal to access from the south west, including Dorset, Devon & Cornwall, Wales, and the Midlands.

A Wide Variety Of Maritime Training

South West Maritime Academy’s courses are popular not only with tall ship crew. Superyacht crew, merchant navy officers, cruise ship staff, and anybody else who works at sea all need to take and update their STCW Basic Safety Training. John’s feedback is so exceptional that some of his customers fly from overseas just to attend their courses.

Alongside MCA STCW certificates and other maritime courses, South West Maritime Academy also offers training across diving, security, fire and medical disciplines. They have an extremely unique site to run these courses from, and their hearts are in the right place.

Preparing You For A Real Situation

The two-day fire fighting element of the STCW training is a common cause of worry for participants. With their own facilities at their disposal, including real fires in a series of containers, John’s instructors spend extra time with any candidate that needs it. Everybody should leave their training prepared, not scared.

The day after you leave the course, with your STCW fresh in hand, you could be back at work on a boat. A life-threatening situation can occur at any time, and you may be responsible for handling it. South West Maritime Academy goes that step further to ensure you are ready for this.

SaltyJobs & South West Maritime Academy: A Partnership

So, we are excited to announce that SaltyJobs and the South West Maritime Academy are going to be working together to promote our joint aim. We are two businesses, both run with a passion, dedicated to inspiring and enabling more people to work on and around the water.

We’re looking forward to helping people get the training they need, and helping trainees go on to find work in the marine industry after becoming qualified.

Now, I might have done all the courses up to Yachtmaster, but the STCW Basic Safety Training is the next thing on my list. Watch this space for some real insights into what these courses are like.

News, Success Story, Training

Tags: news, partnership, qualifications, SaltyJobs, South West Maritime Academy, training provider