By Martha Taumata Faavae
The Samoa Shipping Maritime Academy is closing its doors in a planned merge with the National University Maritime School to get underway with start of the first semester for the New Year.
The NUS deputy Vice Chancellor, Peseta Desmond Lee Hang confirmed the merge.
A course of study was directed by Cabinet last November to be in place for the new classes and they are already done.
“We have held several meetings since then and have basically worked out what needed to be done including a transition phase,” Peseta explained.
“This is important because the Shipping Maritime academy staff of four are now employed in our campus but the budget for their salaries are still with the shipping.
“We have agreed that their salaries will still be paid by the Shipping Corporation up to the new financial yea in July then the NUS will take over from there.”
The Shipping Corporation academy was initially set up to make the recruitment of trained sailors easier for their own travels on the busy route between the mains islands and to American Samoa.
The NUS maritime training were originally held at the Le Papaigalagala Campus before they were moved to the Mulinu’u Peninsula.