Seafarer trainers from Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam have been put through their paces for LNG-fuelled ships with advanced simulator and practical training at an IMO workshop in Ashiya and Yokosuka, Japan.
According to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the subregional “train-the-trainer” workshop (30 October to 6 November) focused on seafarers onboard LNG fuelled ships subject to the International Code of Safety for Ships Using Gases or Other Low-flashpoint Fuels (IGF Code).
The workshop is part of IMO efforts to ensure seafarers are well-equipped to operate liquefied natural gas (LNG)-fuelled ships safely and effectively. The workshop included three major components: classroom lectures; LNG bunkering simulator trainings at the Marine Technical College in Ashiya City of Japan, and advanced emergency responses exercises at the Maritime Disaster Prevention Centre (MDPC) in Yokosuka, Japan.
The participants gained hands-on experience with LNG bunkering simulators. They learned how to use Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and other Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), gas detector, emergency measures for LNG leakage, low-temperature brittleness, as well as fire control, extinguishing agents and firefighting procedures and in particular, LNG (stored and supplied in -162 °C) had been utilized during the exercises.
The nine trainers gained knowledge and experience, and were ready to take the skills back to their own training institutions, to enhance their programmes and strengthen training capacity for seafarers on LNG and other alternative-fuelled vessels.
The workshop was based on the requirements under the Standards of Training, Certification, and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) Convention and Code, taking into account model courses 7.13 and 714 on the Basic and Advanced training for masters, officers, ratings and other personnel on ships subject to the IGF Code. In accordance with regulation V/3 of the STCW Convention, every candidate for a certificate in advanced training for service on ships subject to the IGF Code shall have completed at least one month of approved seagoing service that includes a minimum of three bunkering operations on board ships subject to the IGF Code. Two of the three bunkering operations may be replaced by approved simulator training on bunkering operations.
The workshop was co-organized by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure Transport and Tourism of Japan and the IMO Secretariat, under IMO’s Integrated Technical Cooperation Programme (ITCP), with sponsorship from the Nippon Foundation and support from the Japan Ship Technology Research Association and the Japan Agency of Maritime Education and Training for Seafarers.
To remind, The Nautical Institute has issued the Training Standard for Handling Alternative Fuels in the Maritime Sector publication, which outlines the essential knowledge required for seafarers to handle novel fuels safely.
