£2.5m Port Academy Liverpool launches
A £2.5m maritime training academy opened in Merseyside yesterday
Hugh Baird College, Bootle, officially launch the Port Academy Liverpool (PAL) with some 200 guests from across the UK representing the maritime industry, Merchant Navy, Royal Navy – both past and present – and charitable trusts.
Port Academy Liverpool will provide academic, technical training and enrichment courses for students aged from 14 years looking to pursue a career in all areas of the maritime sector. The first students will be welcomed for the start of term in early September 2016.
A 7.5-ton Naval anchor, refurbished by Cammell Laird, was unveiled at the ceremony as a permanent public marker at the Academy’s entrance to its newly upgraded and customised premises.
The Academy’s location is home to much of the Port of Liverpool’s world famous docks and was the homeport for the legendary Capt Johnnie Walker and his second escort and support groups of warships, the great hero of the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-45.
Shulah Jones, Port Academy Liverpool head of business strategy and project director, said the new facility will be an umbrella to three sub-brands: onshore, offshore and onboard, for both the Merchant Navy and Royal Navy. Career prospects for students will range from cruise liner hospitality to marine engineering.
She said Hugh Baird College of Further Education believes that, through PAL, it is the only education establishment engaging in this way with the maritime sector, which is worth £11-12bn to the UK economy.
“The opening of Port Academy Liverpool is a great day for not only Bootle, but the whole of Liverpool and Merseyside,” said Jones.
“This is also a far-reaching initiative which will benefit the entire UK’s maritime sector. Our aspiration, supported by our maritime partners, is that Port Academy Liverpool will become a beacon of educational excellence, providing first-class academic and technical training from the ages of 14 years to adulthood.
“The maritime sector is part of the DNA of Bootle and the Liverpool City Region and through the creation of Port Academy Liverpool we aim to provide training and enrichment opportunities for all. One example is the huge demand for marine engineers which we can help fill in the longer term.”
