Viking Recruitment New Zealand Expands

Viking Recruitment’s New Zealand team has moved into a new office, conveniently located in the heart of Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter. The move to the new, bigger, office is timely as the Southern Hemisphere operation expands to meet increased demand.

The New Zealand office is a key location for the global Viking group, with Australians and New Zealanders proving enduringly popular choices as both superyacht and cruise crew. The new office, located in the Orams Marine precinct, is just short distance away from the team’s old office and in close proximity to Auckland’s port and major marinas.

New Zealand marked a record summer for both visiting superyachts and cruise ships in 2014. “Superyacht and cruise activity in Auckland is getting bigger and busier and we are now well placed to meet the additional demand for recruitment support,” said Andrew Howarth, Managing Director.

Specialising in recruitment, travel and training, the company serves yachts and cruise ships of all sizes across its global network, with major cruise clients including Holland America, Seabourn and Windstar Cruises. One of Viking Recruitment’s major strengths is their wide range of complementary experience across both these sectors.Viking Recruitment is also the only MLC compliant marine recruitment company in New Zealand. With growing numbers of superyachts requiring compliance from their agents, this certification has only re-enforced Viking’s position as New Zealand’s premier marine recruiter.

old office (a) and new office (b)

Having worked with a significant percentage of the world’s largest cruiseliners and superyachts, the company also specialises in the recruitment needs of the world’s largest superyachts. This experience has proved invaluable for Viking’s clientele, as the numbers of 100-metre+ yachts in build have reached an all time high. The team also works closely with superyacht shipyards around the world on their recruitment requests for new build projects and Howarth has just undertaken a comprehensive shipyard tour visiting key clients in the Netherlands, Germany and the UK.  “Increasingly, yacht owners are recognising that having the right crew is a key element to enjoying their ownership experience and are investing accordingly in the recruitment process,” he said.

In addition to a presence in strategic locations around the world, including the UK-based Maritime Skills Academy, the company is able to make use of a huge social media following – with 139,000 followers on Facebook – to reach out to clients and crew. “Social media is an important tool for crew, and allows them to access job information instantly,” said Amy Welch, Senior Recruitment Consultant. “Making use of all our networks allows us to always source the very best crew for our clients.”

Representatives of Viking Recruitment will be in attendance at the Singapore Yacht Show in 2015, followed by presence at all major yachting shows including Monaco Yacht Show and the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. The Viking New Zealand team also encourage captains and crew in Auckland to come by the new office and say hello.