Buxtehude – With the new cooperation, the NSB GROUP is consistently continuing its path of having students systematically work directly in the company. Since 2009, students of economics from Hamburg have been working in the company on a regular basis dealing with different tasks. More than 70 academic theses have already been written on NSB topics. The three WMU students come from Angola, India, and South Korea. Their theses deal with the health of seafarers on board, alternative fuels, and business development in spare parts supply and logistics.

Tim Ponath, Chief Executive Officer of NSB, has been personally following these educational projects for years and says: “In the cooperation with the World Maritime University in Malmö, we are now taking new steps on several levels: it is a globally positioned institution, the students have concrete maritime professional experience, they come from very different research areas and they will work almost entirely remotely with us. I am very excited to see the results!”

The WMU students that will be working with NSB bring several years of practical experience from maritime professions, both on land and on board, and thus bring new expertise to NSB. They are enrolled in the ‘Master of Science in Maritime Affairs’ programme that has been offered since the university was founded in 1983 in Malmö, Sweden. Since then, 3,683 students have graduated from the Malmö MSc programme. Overall, a total of 5,634 students from 171 countries have graduated from WMU educational programmes.

The expansion of NSB’s student activities fits in with the ship management company’s activities to forge new partnerships and use them to further develop the company. “Through contact with many young talents from different disciplines, we ourselves also remain flexible, learn new methods and gain direct insights into current research questions,” says Tim Ponath about the educational partnership with the institution and adds: “As the International Maritime Organization is part of the United Nations, WMU is aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and thereby fits in with one of the integral parts of our mission.”

Dr. Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, President of WMU, said “Cooperation between WMU and the maritime industry is indispensable and mutually beneficial. We are pleased to enter a new realm of educational collaboration with industry through this partnership with NSB. They have a well-established history of welcoming and supporting students from different disciplines. Our students come to WMU with a wealth of experience. Their postgraduate studies and research deepen that knowledge and will certainly be of benefit to NSB as well as their own professional growth.”

WMU is known as the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) centre of excellence for postgraduate maritime education. The University’s mission is to be the global centre of excellence for postgraduate maritime and oceanic education, professional training and research, while building global capacity and promoting sustainable development.