Maersk to close maritime training school in Denmark

Maersk to close maritime training school in Denmark A.P. Moller-Maersk will close its Kogtved Maritime School in Denmark at the end of 2008 to consolidate the education of students at the Svendborg International Maritime Academy (SIMAC) where most training already takes place.
   The Copenhagen-based shipping giant took over the Kogtved boarding school from J. Lauritzen Shipping Line in 2005. The school, which has an annual intake of 140 students, has educated mariners to work in the Danish commercial fleet since 1942.
   “Staying in a boarding school is not what the students want today. They want to live in a hall of residence or in their own apartments. We are now taking the consequences of this,” said Henrik Sloth, vice president, A.P. Moller-Maersk and chairman of SIMAC.
   “There has been a desire to streamline the ships’ officer education and have it at one location. This will now be the case, and we hope that it will strengthen the education and recruitment. We need all the Danish ships' officers we can get.”