APEC, the training centre for the port of Antwerp, is to provide training for shipping professionals from the port of Santa Marta (Colombia) for the next four years, the company said in its press release. A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect was signed today in Bogota at a ceremony attended by Princess Astrid of Belgium. Under the terms of the agreement APEC will be Santa Marta’s favoured partner for port-related training. The courses offered will include standard APEC seminars, as well as tailor-made courses in Antwerp or in Santa Marta.
The MoU was signed by Mauricio Suárez Ramírez, general manager of the port of Santa Marta, and Paul Verkoyen, CEO of APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre. Mr. Ramírez happens to be a former APEC trainee, having followed a Ports Logistics seminar in 2003.
APEC has functioned as the training centre for the port of Antwerp for more than 35 years now. Trainees are able to choose from three types of course: standard seminars, seminars tailored to the requirements of the visitors, and courses abroad. But in all cases the subjects covered by the seminars are related as closely as possible to the requirements of the market. For the port of Santa Marta the courses will cover engineering, technical operations, and logistics & distribution. The four-year programme will also include APEC’s latest seminar, Cold Chain Logistics, in which trainees learn about the operation of the logistics cold chain, from producer to consumer. So far some 40 people from Colombia have followed an APEC seminar, some of whom now work for the port of Santa Marta.