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Carnival begins developing new CSMART training facility in the Netherlands

Carnival begins developing new CSMART training facility in the Netherlands
Carnival Corp. & plc kicked off the development of a facility that will train 6,500 deck and technical officers a year from all nine of its brands by finalizing the purchase of land in Almere, Netherlands, on Tuesday. The centerpiece of the new campus will be a new, triple-sized Center for Simulator Maritime Training (CSMART), Carnival's maritime training, professional development and research facility, already operating in Almere.

Construction is expected to begin in 2015.

The new facility will offer four full mission bridge simulators including bridge wings, four engine room simulators and nine smaller part task simulators.

Carnival worked with property group AMVEST Vastgoed in the Netherlands to purchase the seven-acre property along the coast in DUIN, a planned business and residential community in Almere, located on the outskirts of Amsterdam and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.

The new CSMART facility, expected to open in 2016, will continue to be instrumental in Carnival's efforts to enhance and expand its training efforts. The courses provided at both the original and new facilities set a higher training standard than regulatory requirements and ensure training keeps pace with the growth of the business and advances in cruise ship technology.

'We are eager to begin building our new center in a city that has been a wonderful home for CSMART and in a development that provides a great setting for our deck and technical officers,' said Carnival's David Christie, corporate svp maritime quality assurance.

Carnival's original CSMART facility opened in 2009. The center being built in DUIN and the original facility are part of the company's $50m investment in CSMART training for deck and technical officers.