PC Maritime’s ECDIS course means officers can be trained and certified without leaving ship.
While staying on board ship and continuing with their duties, over 400 navigating officers have earned formal certification in Navmaster ECDIS—-and they’re very happy about it.
The rigorous training course, launched by PC Maritime nearly a year ago, meets STCW requirements and exceeds the standards set out by the Nautical Institute for ECDIS familiarisation.
Available on standalone DVD, the PC Maritime package uses text, voiceover and video and requires users to carry out actions just as they would on Navmaster ECDIS. At the end of each section, questions have to be answered. Time involved should be around eight hours. The assessment test is taken under controlled conditions and documented.
In a recent customer survey, to which there were 152 respondents from a variety of vessel types around the globe, between 83 and 89 per cent were satisfied or very satisfied with the course and said they would re-run it for refresher training. Some 95 per cent found the course materials clearly presented and the assessment test about right. Where it had arisen, 100% inspection compliance was achieved.
One respondent said the training course was “a very comprehensive tool to have on board to enhance my skills in operating this particular ECDIS. All aspects, including installation, operation and upgrading were to my entire satisfaction.” Another felt the course had “helped crew members to improve in operating and using the various features of this ECDIS.” He found the Oil Companies International Marine Forum inspectors generally satisfied that the course met type specific training requirements. A third commended the “outline of the steps on how to prepare the ECDIS for a voyage, encompassing chart display settings, associated alarms and indication trigger(s), log entries, sensor inputs and other checks needed prior to departure.”
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PC Maritime Marketing Director Anne Edmonds explained: “There is no doubt that training people on board without the costs and downtime inevitable with onshore training has a growing attraction for a range of maritime training in the future.”
1 comment
MAY BE YOU SHOULD CONSIDER TRAINING PEOPLE IN KNOWING THE SIGNS OF MALARIA AS I LOST MY SON SO TRAGICALLY TO THE DISEASE ON 17TH MARCH 2012 WHILST BEING LEFT ON A MARITIME VESSEL WORKING AS AN ARMED SECURITY GUARD FOR 6 DAYS WITH NO TESTING KIT ON BOARD AND NO BODY TRAINED TO IDENTIFY OR DEAL WITH MY SON AN EX ROYAL MARINE AGED 26!!!I HAVE NO DOUBT YOU WILL NOT COMMENT ON THIS AS THE MARITIME WORLD WORKS IN VERY MYSTERIOUS WAYS!