MSC recruitment deal opens cruise opportunities to Kenyan graduates

The cruise ship Msc Meraviglia. Mediterranean Shipping Company has already employed more than 3,000 Kenyans as cruise ship workers. [Courtesy]

Kenya’s emerging cruise tourism industry is set for a potential jobs boost after global cruise operator Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) signalled plans to recruit graduates from the newly opened Ronald Ngala Utalii College (RNUC) in Kilifi.

The development which followed after a visit by an MSC technical team to the college, where the delegation held discussions on training and employment opportunities for Kenyan hospitality students.

The delegation was led by Captain Fiorenzo Castellano of MSC Kenya and accompanied by Kenya Maritime Authority (KMA) director general Omae Nyarandi and other officials.

Former Seafarers Union of Kenya Secretary General Andrew Mwangura said the engagement had opened discussions on a recruitment pipeline that could see graduates join MSC’s cruise ships operating across international waters.

He said MSC has already employed more than 3,000 Kenyans as cruise ship workers, highlighting the potential scale of the opportunity for graduates from the new institution.

Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Rebecca Miano has called for the fast-tracking of a memorandum of understanding between the Kenyan government and MSC to formalise job placements for graduates.

''The request by CS Miano carries weight. It signals that the Kenyan government views this engagement not as an exploratory conversation but as a time-sensitive opportunity that must be secured while decision-makers are still on Kenyan soil. In the competitive world of international cruise partnerships, such urgency from a CS is both rare and revealing. Nairobi understands that momentum, once lost, is difficult to recover," Mwangura said.

Mwangura said the engagement gained further momentum after MSC shipowner Diego Aponte reportedly spoke by telephone with the company’s technical team during the visit and committed to recruiting the college’s pioneer cohort.

“For an institution that has already registered 200 pioneer students, this is a concrete employment opportunity if the commitment is formalised,” Mwangura said.

The college has already enrolled 200 pioneer students and is designed to eventually accommodate up to 5,000 students across various hospitality programmes.

The proposed partnership comes as Kenya seeks to strengthen its position in the blue economy and capture a larger share of the global cruise tourism market.

The coastal location of RNUC places it close to Kenya’s cruise tourism infrastructure and the Indian Ocean, creating an opportunity to link hospitality training with employment in the international cruise industry.

Mwangura said the planned installation of a cruise-ship simulator at the college could further strengthen the training programme by giving students exposure to operational environments similar to those found aboard modern cruise vessels.

The proposed simulator is expected to complement classroom training with practical skills relevant to cruise hospitality, including passenger services and shipboard operations.

The potential partnership also comes with wider investment ambitions. Mwangura said MSC had indicated that it could consider an investment of about $300 million (Sh38.916 billion) subject to satisfactory progress.

The proposed investment, however, would need to be formalised before its scale and implementation can be assessed.

Mombasa Tourism Council chairman Sam Ikwaye said the opening of the college marked an important development for the coastal tourism industry and called for faster completion of its infrastructure.

“We are urging the government and all the relevant government agencies led by the Tourism Fund, who are the implementers on behalf of the government, to help speed up full completion of infrastructure without any delays,” Ikwaye said.

He commended the Tourism Fund for supporting the project and ensuring that the institution reached the operational stage.

The college is expected to train students in hospitality-related disciplines, creating a pool of skilled workers for Kenya’s tourism and hospitality industry as well as international markets.

A formal partnership with MSC could give the institution a direct link to the global cruise industry, while providing Kenyan graduates with opportunities to build careers beyond the domestic tourism market.

For Kenya, the proposed collaboration also comes as the country seeks to expand the economic contribution of its maritime sector through tourism, shipping and other activities linked to the blue economy.

The success of the initiative will depend on the formalisation of the recruitment arrangements, completion of the college’s infrastructure and the establishment of training standards that meet international cruise industry requirements.