ACMF Awards 74 Scholarships and Grants to CMU Students

A total of 74 scholarships and grants have been awarded to students to pursue studies at the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), by the American Caribbean Maritime Foundation (ACMF).

This represents 70 per cent of the number of scholarships and grants (105) awarded by the Foundation for the 2024/25 academic year.

The recipients include four foreign students, two from The Bahamas and one each from Anguilla and Trinidad and Tobago.

The number of scholarships and grants that have been awarded by the ACMF to students from eight Caribbean countries represents a doubling of the figure over the previous year.

Using a digital application portal for the first time in 2024, the Foundation received an unprecedented 167 applications from high-school and university students across the Caribbean seeking an opportunity to earn a maritime-related degree.

That number is more than twice the number of applications received in 2023 and is the largest number ever received by the Foundation in any one year.

President, ACMF, Dr. Geneive Brown-Metzgar, tells JIS News about the significance of the large number of applications. “It’s an indication of the strong interest in the shipping sector among Caribbean youth,” she says, adding that the Foundation “is grateful to our sponsors who make this possible”.

For his part, President of the CMU, Professor Andrew Spencer, points out that the wealth of talent in the Caribbean would not be unearthed without financial support from credible entities that understand what is required for economic development in the region.

“The CMU is always excited when there are partners who are not only sustaining their efforts but sustained in their commitment to us. The ACMF has been the foremost of our partners for funding students’ education,” Professor Spencer notes.

“They have expanded this year to include new students, which allows us to be able to tap into a particular kind of talent from the secondary level. We are happy with the expansion in scope, but also that they continue to see the CMU as the premier tertiary education institution in the field of maritime, shipping and logistics,” the CMU President adds.

Endorsing the work of the Foundation, Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, Bertrand Smith, commends the ACMF for its effort in supporting education within the maritime sector.

“As the shipping industry embarks on the journey of digitalisation, decarbonisation and autonomous ships, it will need young talent who can operate high-tech ships, carrying zero carbon fuels and also navigate the regulatory framework which is becoming increasingly more complex” Mr. Smith explains.

“It is within this context that the Maritime Authority as the agency responsible for the regulation and development of shipping in Jamaica, applauds the ACMF, led by its distinguished President, Dr. Brown-Metzgar, for rising to the challenge and providing scholarships tenable at training institutions around the region, including the CMU,” he adds.

Mr. Smith lauds the commitment of Dr. Brown-Metzgar and her team to opening the door to a career at sea for deserving young women and men, which he says is to be celebrated, “and we extend our appreciation to the ACMF and the work it is doing to develop the shipping industry in the Caribbean”.

Scholarship recipient for 2021-2023, Nyshauna Strachan, who recently completed her studies at CMU, is now employed to Royal Caribbean International as a Deck Apprentice Officer.

She expresses gratitude for the opportunity that the scholarship provided for her to complete her studies.

“I thank ACMF for their unwavering support throughout my academic years. It’s because of organisations like these that young people like me can pursue our dreams and make a difference in the world,” she says.

The Deck Apprentice Officer says that the scholarship, which took her through three years of her four-year degree, enabled her to be more focused, as her parents did not have to worry about financing her education.

“The scholarship inspired me to work harder and smarter and at the same time manage my activities. Everything I do in my life is for me and my parents, so with my tuition being paid, I just kept studying and doing my best,” she beams.

Ms. Strachan, who received the President’s Award for the Most All-Round Student and the Registrar’s Award for Excellence in Leadership while at CMU, says that the experience “has reinforced my belief that hard work and dedication always pay off in the end”.

The 2024 awards will be made to students from Jamaica, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, The Bahamas, Dominica, Anguilla, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In six years, the ACMF has expanded its offerings from five scholarships in 2018 to 105 scholarships and grants in 2024.

To date, the Foundation has awarded 279 recipients to study at the CMU, the University of Trinidad and Tobago, LJM Maritime Academy in The Bahamas and MatPal Marine Institute and Atlantic Alliance Off-Shore Marine Training Institute in Guyana.

The ACMF is a US non-profit tax-exempt organisation, and is the only entity solely dedicated to sponsoring academic scholarships and grants to aspiring Caribbean and CARICOM maritime professionals and seafarers.

The Foundation partners with academic institutions within CARICOM to train aspiring mariners and maritime professionals in engineering, navigation, logistics, immigration and customs processing, cybersecurity, supply chain management, port management, among other skills essential to the maritime sector.