Global marine fuel supplier and trading firm Monjasa is shifting crew management on its fleet of delivery vessels to an in-house basis.

The firm’s sister company Montec has recently expanded its crew management capabilities both of officers and cadets, it said in an emailed statement on Thursday.

The firm has signed three new maritime partnerships to help train its crews: with the International Maritime University of Panama (UMIP) and the Escuela Naval de Cadetes “Almirante Padilla” (ENAP) in Colombia, and  a cadetship program initiative between Monjasa, Montec and the Namibian Maritime and Fisheries Institute (NAMFI) in Namibia.

“Monjasa experiences an overall global shortage of skilled seafarers, and the ambition is to improve recruitment and retention across its maritime operations in the Americas, West Africa, the Middle East and Northwest Europe,” the company said.

The firm already has partnerships with the Sharjah Maritime Academy in the UAE and the Latvian Maritime Academy, Novikontas Maritime Academy and RTU Liepaja Marine College in Latvia.

Monjasa controls a fleet of 35 ships in total.