Staff from Clyde Marine Recruitment will be attending the annual Scottish Shipping Benevolent Association dinner next week. The association is a registered charity was set up in 1899 originally it just covered Glasgow however its remit was increased about 10 years ago to take in all of Scotland. The association aid many people associated with our industry and we are delighted we can assist them.
The dinner itself is always an enjoyable affair, this year being held in the Crowne Plaza directly overlooking the Clyde, and will include speakers from the Chamber of Shipping as well as other key industry members. Scotland has a long and distinguished maritime heritage and this dinner honours that in many ways. We’re very proud to be a part of that industry. From our Glasgow headquarters we work with many aspects of the marine industry, from individuals to some of the largest businesses in the world. Maritime and shipping is still a very important industry in Scotland and we are privileged to be at the heart of it.

We are fortunate at Clyde Marine to work alongside some excellent partner companies. Building partnerships is important in any business but especially so in the marine industry. The level of training, experience and aptitude a candidate possesses can make all the difference to their suitability for a position and at Clyde Marine we pride ourselves on finding the right person for the right job. We are delighted to have worked with a real cross-section of the marine and shipping industry recently. Our partners in the last few months alone have included NLHB, P&O, Marine Scotland (SFPA), KOTC, LPG, KOTC, Sartor, Stena, Azalea, Meridian, BVT, Galfishing, Deeside, P&O Mariner, Calmac, Northlink, Serco Denholm and the Northern Lighthouse Board.

We understand that nothing is forever, particularly in business, but it is pleasing in these testing economic times that companies of this calibre feel they can rely on us. The challenge for us is to continue to find the highest calibre candidates we can, a challenge we believe we are more than up too.

We’ve been busy at Clyde Marine recently. We visited two of LD Lines vessels, the Norman Arrow and the Norman Spirit. We supply crew management services for both ships and it is important that we visit the ships, speak to the staff and get a better understanding of what’s required first hand. It was a worthwhile visit.
We travelled out to Portugal too. Many of our crews include Portuguese and we are fortunate that we have good connections and a reputation there. Shipping is a global industry and we operate accordingly.
We were also in Liverpool at the Ferry Operators Forum last month. This is an important aspect of the ferry industry and the forum includes decision makers from right across the industry. Working together we can campaign for improvements and address operational issues.
Lastly we were very pleased to welcome Reederei Nord Klaus E Oldendorff as a new client. We hope we enjoy a long and mutually beneficial relationship.

We recently held a photographic competition for all at Clyde Marine Recruitment and we got a really great response. It ran in our newsletter and we’ve had photos sent in from all around the globe. We love sharing some of the sites our people get to see when travelling the world, after all most of us are stuck behind a desk all day! So it was great fun sifting through all the entries. Of course there can only be on winner and this time it was João Luís Silva do Nascimento. His winning photo of ships in the sunset is really beautiful and everyone in the office loved it.  His winning photograph will be featuring on our website and João will soon be the proud owner of a Clyde Marine T-shirt. If you have any photographs you’ve taken at sea we’d love to see them and if they are any good we’ll stick them up on our website.

 Below is a copy of the winning photograph.

We have recently strengthened the team here at Clyde Marine Recruiment. Natalie Kriek has joined us an On-board Services Crew Co-ordinator. Natalie was previously with Carnival Cruises and brings a complete understanding of the marine industry and the unique pressures it brings. She'll be working with Norfolkline, P & O and Isle of Man Steam Packet amongst others. Natalie will be looking for Deck Officers, 2nd Officers, 3rd Officers and DP Officers in particular.

We have been working with LD Lines recently and through our training division we were able to help them last month. We recruited and trained 12 Dover based cabin attendents. We were able to enrol them in one of our own short course training schemes so they were qualified to work onboard. All 12 started work together onboard the Norman Arrow which is the largest fast ferry crossing the English Channel. Having our own training division is a huge advantage for us.

If you are interested in working on the Norman Arrow please fell free to contact us.

An area we've seen growth in recently is the oil and gas sector. We recruit for a variety of roles particularly Deck Officers and Engineer Officers for AHTS, DSVs and Platform Supply Vessels. Clyde Marine Consultants are also recruiting for shore based roles in the Oil and Gas sectors so with this in mind both Clyde Marine Recruitment and Clyde Marine Consultants will be exhibiting at Offshore Europe in Aberdeen next month - www.offshore-europe.co.uk. The exhibition is a great opportunity to discuss career opportunities with us and you can find us in the Scottish Pavilion.

Despite the tough economic times we are living in there are still some profesions that are very much in demand. Engineers, for example, are still sought after particualrly those with tanker experience. We've a number of vacancies for Chief Engineer and 2nd Engineers currently. The positions are all on UK coastal tankers and are immediately available. If you are interested in these postions please have a look at our main website.

It is exciting to be involved in something new from the very start and particularly so when it is a world first. The ‘Norman Arrow’ is the largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between Dover and Boulogne. The 112 metre diesel catamaran will operate 6 services a day and will carry tourist and freight traffic. We have been involved in up-manning the vessel and positions include Deck Officers, Engineers, AB's, Motormen and Stewards. We will be arranging ship visits in Dover soon and anyone interested in a position with this vessel should make contact with us soon.