The Maritim Trainee Programme - Norway
In Norwegian, “maritime” is written “maritim”, and “trainee” has become a Norwegian word, hence the name “Maritim Trainee” that for English speakers may look like it’s misspelt.
About the Language
Maritim Trainee is operated by the Norwegian Shipowners' Association (Norges Rederiforbund) as a service for companies in the Norwegian maritime industry. Therefore, it is being conducted in Norwegian. We do however have trainees from Sweden, Finland, Russia, and China - so it's up to you whether you believe you master or will be able to learn enough Norwegian to participate in the programme. Needless to say, most of the participating companies have English as their corporate language. So foreign students are welcome to apply under these conditions.
About the Programme
On behalf of the maritime industry in Norway, The Norwegian Shipowners' Association (Norges Rederiforbund) launched a two-year trainee programme in August 2005. “Maritim Trainee” involves some 25 companies in the maritime industry as a whole; shipowners, ship yards and maritime equipment companies, oil rig companies, classification societies, law firms, banks and ship brokers.
Maritim Trainee seeks to give each trainee a basic understanding so that he/she becomes capable of mastering numerous functions within the maritime industry, already at an early stage of his/her career. The trainees are holding a master's degree in economics, technology or law, from universities in Norway and abroad.
6 Modules
The programme runs over a two-year period. It consists of a combination of working in one company and for some of the trainees being an intern in another trainee company. Included is an academic programme of 35 days in six different modules. The academic programme is to fill several purposes: The most important is to increase the trainees' expertise through lectures, group projects and company presentations. In addition, the academic programme is an arena where trainees may discuss their experiences and build important and lasting alliances and networks. Last, but not the least, it is important that the trainees gain a broad understanding of the maritime industry globally.
The two first modules of the academic programme take place in Norway, as do the fourth and fifth modules. The third module is held in Singapore. Through 7 days the trainees will visit several Singaporean companies and Norwegian affiliates. They will also visit the National University of Singapore (NUS) for lectures on maritime, economic, political and cultural issues. The sixth and last module takes place in London in May the 2nd year.
Fifth Group Under Way
The first Maritim Trainee programme started in August 2005 and finished in June 2007 with 25 trainees. Group number 2 with 24 trainees started in August 2007 and finished in June 2009. Group number 3 started in August 2008 with as many as 31 trainees, bringing along 6 new companies also. Group 4 started in August 2009, and Group 5 will start in August 2010.
The Crew
Dr.oecon. Erik W. Jakobsen is Academic Director for the programme, and Mr Tom O. Kleppestø (MSc) is programme coordinator. Ms Trude Larsen from BønesVirik is in charge of the recruitment process that is run collectively for all companies in the programme. Mr Tore Forsmo, Competence Director at the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association, keeps a firm hand at the wheel on the companies’ behalf.
For more information: Please feel free to contact the programme coordinator,
Mr Tom O. Kleppestø, at tom@kleppesto.no