Danish Shipping has launched an initiative to help build maritime competence and create opportunities for talented African cadets.
Danish shipping companies and Danish authorities have a long history of cooperating closely with African partners, especially in the maritime sector.
Building on successful partnerships between Danish shipping companies and African maritime institutions, the African Maritime Training Initiative aims to strengthen cooperation and create opportunities for talented African cadets to gain world-class training and sea experience with leading Danish shipowners.
The new initiative currently includes Maersk, Norden, Hafnia, Torm, Unifeeder, and Navigator Gas, coordinated by Danish Shipping, which aims to expand participation across its membership.
A strong foundation for the initiative has been laid through Norden’s engagement in West Africa, including its support for the Regional Maritime Academy in Abidjan (ARSTM) via the Orient Foundation. Since 2019, 18 students from Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon have been sponsored, with the first cadets completing their sea time in 2024 and progressing toward officer positions in the Synergy fleet.
In 2025, an additional 18 cadets from Gabon, Côte d’Ivoire, and Guinea will be sponsored, and six new cadets are expected to embark on Norden vessels or with Synergy technical management as trainees.
Also in West Africa, Hafnia is officially collaborating with the Regional Maritime University in Ghana, since signing an MoU in 2023. Hafnia has committed to recruiting a minimum of 16 cadet positions aboard its vessels annually who have graduated from RMU. To date a total of 77 cadets have gone through or are going through their cadetship with Hafnia with the objective of becoming officers within its fleet. Hafnia has taken 103 seafarers across varying ranks and career trajectories (Cadets, Ratings and Officers) from Ghana and other regions – including Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gambia, Nigeria, South-Africa, and Tanzania.
The initiative also follows the positive experience of the training program launched by Maersk and the Kenya Ports Authority in 2025, which has already provided maritime training opportunities for Kenyan students, including 10 sea cadets, demonstrating the strong potential for collaboration between industry and local academies. As part of the initiative, six African cadets are expected to join Navigator Gas vessels in the coming year, subject to meeting entry requirements.
