Keppel O&M Training Center Opens

October 30, 2008

The newly opened Keppel Offshore & Marine Group Training Centre is poised to be a centre of excellence for technical and specialised skills training. Touring the facility are (L-R) Mr Bruce Poh (third from left), Director & CEO, ITE; Mr Choo Chiau Beng, Chairman & CEO, Keppel Offshore & Marine; Mr Bob Tan, Chairman of ITE Board of Governors; and Mr Tong Chong Heong, MD & COO, Keppel Offshore & Marine.

(), the technical and specialized skill training center of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited (Keppel O&M), has enhanced its capacity to 3,500 training places per annum with its new facilities in .

The Center will be a one-stop training facility where employees and subcontractors can register for courses, undergo training, receive certification and apply for relevant trade licences.

Keppel O&M’s annual investment in training was S$17 million for 2006 and 2007 each. This is expected to rise to S$23 million in 2008, more than half of which goes to technical skills and specialised training packages run by Keppel O&M Training Centre.

The official opening of the new facilities was on 29 October 2008. At the ceremony, Mr Bruce Poh Geok Huat, Director & Chief Executive Officer of ITE and Mr Tong Chong Heong, Managing Director & Chief Operating Officer of Keppel O&M signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that sees the creation of ’s first offshore and marine joint-certification training.

Under the MOU, Keppel O&M and ITE will jointly set up the Marine Offshore Technology Workshop at the ITE College Central. Keppel O&M will provide the equipment and technical support for the center and offer 10 scholarship awards annually for the next five years for students pursuing the Higher Nitec in Marine Offshore Engineering course at ITE. Keppel O&M and ITE will also develop joint-certification training programs.

Mr Bruce Poh said, “Youths seeking to build a career in the marine industry will greatly benefit from Keppel O&M’s scholarship initiative. Our partnership with Keppel O&M will also augment the training curricula and programs in the field of offshore and marine, bringing us closer to our national goal of making a center of excellence in this industry.”

Established in 1968 along with Keppel Shipyard when the Company was privatized by the Singapore Government, the has been a seedbed for skilled workers, engineers and professionals. Today, it draws a wealth of experience and expertise from Keppel O&M’s established, global network of 20 yards and 10 ngineering and technology units, to be at the forefront in technical training to meet market needs.

The training curricula and programs provided by are comprehensive. These include a wide range of welding, trade & testing processes, dimension control, workplace safety & health related courses on work in confined places, scaffolding and forklift, quality control, various types of Higher Nitec courses such as Marine Electrical Technology, Fabrication Technology and Marine Technology.

The courses are catered to equip workers with the skills, attitudes and workplace safety standards required for the industry. Specialized training programs are also conducted in compliance with classification societies’ standards to prepare and certify personnel to carry out work on materials that are used for specified purposes and in extreme conditions of high temperature, high pressure and harsh climatic environments of minus 45C.

The courses are developed in-house as well as with strategic partners including government agencies such as the Ministry of Manpower and Workforce Development Agency, technical education institutes like ITE, NTUC Learning Hub and Workplace Safety Council and industry partners such as the Association of Singapore Marine Industries, classification societies and customers.