FLORIDA-BASED Carnival Cruise Lines is adding seven ships to its fleet in the next decade and will hire thousands of staff including Filipino seafarers, its top official said on Wednesday.
The company will add two ships to its Australian fleet in January 2025, President Christine Duffy told reporters in Manila.
Two new Excel class ships are scheduled for delivery in 2027 and 2028, she added. Each ship can accommodate about 6,600 guests.
The cruise operator also expects to take delivery of their largest-ever ships in 2029, 2031, and 2033. Each ship can house about 8,000 guests.
The company has signed a training partnership with STI College and the Philippine Marine Merchant Academy, which seeks to help Filipino seamen move beyond traditional entry-level jobs, Ms. Duffy said.
It would help Filipino seafarers to build careers, excel and advance through Carnival’s ranks, including posts for captain and chief engineers, she said.
Carnival Cruise will grant scholarships to 20 STI students.
“The benefit for us and STI is we are helping them create the curriculum and the training,” Ms. Duff said. “We know that when that crew member, if they’re selected to come and work, they’ve already been through the training that we need.”
“This is a very nontraditional program for us because traditionally, Carnival Cruise Line was solely focused on Italian and European [crews],” Bettina A. Deynes, Global Chief Human Resource officer of Carnival Corp. and PLC, told reporters.
“The bulk of our deck and engine officers today are from Italy or Croatia and for other cruise lines, a lot of northern Europeans from Scandinavian countries,” she said. “We really recognize the Philippines to be a source of talent in the maritime space.”
The partnership is expected to increase Filipino visibility in Carnival’s crew, which employs 12,000 Filipinos. A thousand of them are deck and engine crews.
Ms. Deynes added that they are promoting about 20,000 crew members this year and expect to fill up those vacancies through hiring.
Carnival Cruise Line, under the Carnival Corp. and PLC with eight other cruise lines, employs a total of 50,000 Filipino staff across all nine brands.
Carnival Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Seabourn, Cunard, AIDA Cruises, Costa, P&O Cruises (UK), and P&O Cruises (Australia), are the nine brands under Carnival Corp.
Carnival also shifted to a digital mode of application for interested crew members. — Chloe Mari A. Hufana