The latest review of skills and capacity for Australian seafarers has concluded that more than 560 new workers will be needed in the next four years. These seafarers will have to be experts beyond standard qualifications. Maritime Industry Australia warns that in spite of expected increases in demand for seafaring skills, there is no increase in training options for new workers.
Terminal Zárate signed an agreement with Globalim, training solution provider, for two new crane simulators. The facility will be provided with a simulation platform with various configuration options, such as rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTGs), mobile harbour cranes, and ship pedestal cranes.
February 15th marks 37 years from the loss of the semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit ‘Ocean Ranger’ off Canada. The platform sank along with its entire 84 crew, claiming the title of one of the worst offshore drilling accidents in North American history. The incident forms another example of how lack of compliance with procedures and inadequate safety culture can have tragic consequences.
The Romanian presidency reached a provisional agreement on a plan to keep the EU rules in line with international rules, while in the meantime make the centralised mechanism for the recognition of seafarers more efficient and effective. The agreement is based on EU’s regulatory framework on seafarers’ training and certification.
Over 70% of the respondents of MarTID (Maritime Training Insights Database) survey initiative, World Maritime University (WMU) expect an increase in simulators and e-learning in the coming years. In year 2019, traditional classroom teaching, and simulation training are the most popular training methods for operators, while there has been much debate about whether e-learning in maritime industry works or not. Some believe there is no replacement for hands-on training, others believe there is.
The emerging risk associated with cyber threat requires not only better training for seafarers, but also spreading awareness of best cyber security practices, argued Peter Broadhurst, Senior VP of Safety and Security, Inmarsat Maritime, adding that there is still ‘a long way to go’ when it comes to effective cyber protection.
North P&I Club has launched a new series of bite-sized training packs to help seafarers avoid the contributing factors to workplace casualties. The first training pack focuses on the Can Test, the IMSBC complementary test for bulk cargoes, to address suspected bulk cargo liquefaction, which has claimed lives of an estimated 112 seafarers since 2007.
Compared to other global industries, shipping is relatively insulated from the general public at large—surprisingly so given its global reach and indispensability. It is not a world where people understand that without shipping, “half the world would starve, while the other half would freeze.”
General Dynamics European Land Systems-Bridge Systems will develop a multifunctional, modular floating platform known as Pontoon Boat (PoBo). PoBo is a modularly configurable floating device, that can be used to assemble heavy-duty transport, working, diving and recovery platforms or bridges. The PoBo will be ergonomically friendly and will have a mobile virtual reality system to carry out fast and cost-effective training.
SAFETY4SEA is pleased to announce that Magsaysay Maritime Corporation has received the 2019 SMART4SEA Training Award, sponsored by Orpheus Marine Transport Corporation, at a prestigious award ceremony which successfully concluded on January the 29th at Yacht Club of Greece in Athens, the evening ahead of the 2019 SMART4SEA Conference.
