Nigel Cleave
“The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) is now at the top of the business agenda. The need for regularised working and living conditions for seafarers has been formally recognised and the countdown to compliance has well and truly begun. This is a surprise to no-one and, for many, the race is now on to obtain good quality, cost effective training for their personnel.”
This is the message from Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel Marine International, as the news breaks that the Philippines has become the 30th country to sign up to MLC and that the Convention is anticipated to come into effect during August 2013.
“Good training is essential for those responsible for implementing and ensuring compliance with the standards of the ILO”, says Mr Cleave. “The ILO Maritime Labour Convention is probably the single most important international regulation affecting manning and labour affairs that has been seen for many generations. It covers every aspect of the manning of ships, from employment conditions to medical standards, and from crew accommodation to work hour regulations.
“The question is, how best to deliver this training? The importance of this topic means that any course needs to be delivered by a senior course tutor with significant experience in the field – and in real time. However the range of roles and responsibilities held by course participants demands that the training be flexible and available on demand.”
The answer is to deliver the training through the Videotel Academy tutor-assisted computer based training scheme. This combines distance learning techniques with the traditional advantages of support and interaction provided by learning in a virtual classroom environment. Participants benefit from the ability to communicate ‘face to face’ with their course tutor and receive monitoring and support in real time.
The tutor for the course is David Dearsley. With more than 45 years’ experience in the shipping industry at sea and on shore, he spent 25 years as Deputy Secretary General of the ISF where he was involved with drafting and developing the text for the MLC.
Delivered over six weeks, the Videotel Academy provides everything needed to study the programme, communicate with the tutor, upload assignments, liaise with fellow candidates and research additional material.
