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Hear from our Students

We have a course to suit everyone and we take pride in giving our partners, clients, staff and students the best possible training to start and further their career.

Don’t just take our word for it, here are some success stories:

Alumni Testimonials

“I received very good education at SSMS, in a professional but peer-level atmosphere. Excellent. Learning thoroughly with teachers who care about education; who know by experience and who can really open the mind to all the intricacies of a subject – they are the teachers whom I was fortunate to find at STC. You will do the same.”

 

Captain Peter John Pratley
Lecturer, Kobe University of Maritime Sciences, Japan

“The two port controllers who attended the VTS refresher course enjoyed the experience and thought the course was well run.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul Hayes
Deputy Harbour Master, Belfast

“South Shields Marine School is one of the colleges in the UK that offer high quality MCA and MNTB approved maritime cadetship courses.

From the delivery of training programmes and the promotion of career pathways, we are delighted to work with South Shields Marine School as part of the UK-wide vision to provide the best seafarers for the Merchant Navy, now and in the future.”

Kathryn Neilson
Director,Merchant Navy Training Board

“During a gap year, I stumbled across the film, ‘Captain Philips’, which got me intrigued and had me on a mission to find out more. Before that, I’d never even considered a career at sea. The opportunity for a full sponsored education as opposed to £40,000 debt I’d have carried if I went to university was too good to miss. One of my career highlights is spending time with Richard Hammond, for his new Discovery Chanel series, ‘BIG!’. I taught him how to firefight, drive the world’s biggest boat and a whole bunch of nautical things. This was hands down THE coolest experience of my whole life.”

Joe Furness
MCA Master Unlimited

Meet Denise Ambe – the first female trainee ETO officer to be sent to college for training by Mercy Ships. Before her career at sea evolved, she studied at University in her hometown of Cameroon, originally hoping to become a fashion designer but by developing a unique interest in all things electrical, she embarked on a different path and completed a Bachelor Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Following on from this, she then put her full intention and energy into pursuing this career and since joining her vessel as a member of the day crew – she has never looked back!

Denise Ambe
ETO Officer

Client Testimonials

“South Shields Marine School is one of the colleges in the UK that offer high-quality MCA and MNTB approved maritime cadetship courses.

From the delivery of training programmes and the promotion of career pathways, we are delighted to work with South Shields Marine School as part of the UK-wide vision to provide the best seafarers for the Merchant Navy, now and in the future.”

Kathryn Neilson
Director, Merchant Navy Training Board

“Our Evergas Captains attended the marine school and enjoyed the open discussion and opportunity to try actions which could not be done on board a vessel.

During the training period, we practiced on the cooperation with tugboats, entering and leaving of locks, manoeuvring in Grangemouth Harbour, mooring and unmooring.

We thank South Shields Marine School staff for the excellent organisation of training process. The knowledge and experience received from the training helped us significantly.”

Captain Igor Gusakov
Master of JS INEOS INDEPENDENCE, Evergas

“We use the marine school’s simulator for a number of activities, from Pilot training and development to trialling new types of vessels, and port development, such as new berths.

We always find the staff in the marine simulator to be extremely professional and helpful, with an excellent blend of theoretical and real-world knowledge.

They are very flexible to our needs and time constraints, and are always ready to listen and offer constructive and practical feedback which help us reach our objectives and achieve the best outcomes for all parties involved.”

Alan McPherson
Chief Harbour Master, Forth Ports

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