V.Group inaugurates new centre in Manila

V.Group Manila – Bridge simulation room

1000 new seafarers register on first day of V.Group’s new Manila Training Centre.

V.Group the world’s leading provider of maritime services, together with its market leading third party ship management arm, V.Ships, are celebrating the inauguration of a major new office and training centre in Manila, Philippines.

The recently opened centre is located in the burgeoning Aseana City district which is set to become the next business capital of the Philippines. Occupying 6, 700sq meters over five floors of the impressive new Aseana II building, the state of the art facility is the single biggest investment by V.Group in its history and is intended to become a centre of excellence for the Group.

Accommodating a growing workforce of 270 full time management and admin employees, the wide ranging facilities include a crew manning suite which saw the arrival of 1000 seafarers on its opening day to register with the Group. In addition,  an impressive array of training facilities are provided, including a full mission bridge and engine room simulator, a culinary and hospitality instruction centre, which can cater for almost 400 visitors per day, two housekeeping areas which fully replicate the luxury accommodation of a cruise liner, an officers’ mess and a full suite of classrooms and auditoriums.

V.Group Manila – Culinary School

The strategic new opening is testament to the importance of the Philippines as the principal recruitment ground for professional crew in the world. The V.Group/V.Ships representative in the Philippines,  Jamie Stewart commented: “These new offices will increase our capacity to manage and train seafarers with a wide range of skills to the highest international standards. We are now able to offer a service facility which is second to none and includes recruitment, technical training, culinary training, operations, commercial, purchasing,  technical support and IT which positions the Group at the heart of not only Asia, but the global shipping community.”

Included in the new office complex are V.Group’s long standing local partners Pacific Ocean Manning,  North Sea Marine, V.Manpower and Kestral Shipping Inc. who continue to support the company’s continuous growth in the region.

Elmer Pulumbarit,  General Manager, Pacific Ocean Manning Inc. said: “We achieve this success because of our greatest asset, our people. Our combined teams are committed to sourcing, recruiting and developing talent which ensure that our company, our clients and the industry continue to benefit from the best pool of professionally qualified individuals available.”

Delivering the highest brand excellence for over 40 years V.Group/V.Ships is recognised globally as the market leader having built a reputation based on its commitment to our clients’ success which the group describes as “performance assured”.

A key value of V.Group is a commitment to fairness and equality of opportunity. While focusing on providing service excellence to its customers, every V.Group seafarer is provided with the right conditions to help them improve and better their lives and those of their families.

V.Group is the world’s leading provider of outsourced maritime services to the commercial shipping and cruise industries and an increasingly important player in the energy sector.

The company delivers a wide range of marine services including technical management and support through its market-leading third party ship manager, V.Ships; seafarer recruitment, management and training; procurement, and ship supply chain management.

V.Group employs 2500 staff around its global office network in 60 locations and manages the recruitment and placement of some 38, 000 seafarers. It delivers ship and crew management services to a diverse fleet of over 800 vessels. These include crude, products, chemical and LPG/LNG tankers, bulk carriers ranging from a large fleet of self-dischargers to VLOCs, containerships from feeders to 14, 200 TEU units, as well as many specialized vessel types including offshore and seismic vessels, cable layers and diving support/subsea units servicing the growing offshore market.