Superyacht industry seminar

'The superyacht industry: a challenge/an opportunity' is the theme of a seminar to be held in the last week of April. It is being organised by Wilfred Sultana and Associates, publishers of Yachting in Malta, the directory to Malta's yachting services and facilities first published in 1976.

The seminar was meant to be held last October as part of the launch programme of the 8th edition of the publication, but had to be postponed due to unforseen circumstances. While the original seminar was going to discuss 'Jobs in the superyachts industry', the topic has now been widened to focus on the whole industry. However, the job opportunities angle still forms part of the seminar.

The International Superyacht Society, based in Florida, US, and the Flagship Superyacht Academy operating from Portsmouth in the UK have maintained their original support and will be nominating speakers for the occasion.

The society, founded in 1989, is the sole organisation serving and representing the large yacht industry worldwide.

Society members are individuals and companies recognised for their leadership and dedication in raising the standards of design construction, maintenance, repair and operation of large yachts. The academy is part of the group established in 1996 when a ground-breaking association arrangement was signed with the Royal Navy to market the spare capacity in their training facilities, and programmes. It has unique access to the Navy's extensive training facilities, which enables them to provide a comprehensive training portfolio for superyacht crew. "This will be the first ever seminar of its kind in Malta, and is bound to generate interest among the local yachting trade and in the higher education sector," said Mr Sultana, publisher of Yachting in Malta and mentor of this initiative.