With freight rates in the doldrums and many vessels laid up, shipowners worldwide are looking to reduce expenditure. However, mandatory installation of ECDIS is being phased in from 2012 on board newbuildings and from 2014 on board existing ships.
Anne Edmonds, PC Maritime’s marketing director says the company is exploring ways in which it can provide its customers with more convenient, cost-effective ways of carrying out the required ECDIS Type Training.
“One solution now under development is a CBT (Computer Based Training) program. We began this last year but because of the imminent changes that were due to come into effect on 1 January 2009, we decided to put the project on hold. Now though, with Type Approval having been secured for our latest version of Navmaster ECDIS, we are pressing on with finalising and releasing a CBT program that will be consistent with the latest standards.
“The program is designed to provide training in all operational aspects of Navmaster ECDIS and consists of demonstrations with voiceover, exercises and tests. It will be offered to customers for use onboard or ashore for initial and refresher training.”
The same product will also be offered online. The PC Maritime Learning Management System (LMS) online service can deliver the same training content as the CBT, thus giving interviewees and off duty officers the opportunity to prepare for assessment or refresh their knowledge wherever they have access to the internet.
The important additional capability of the LMS is that PC Maritime can give access to individuals for an assessment test, manage and report on the results, issue certificates and email interested parties of users’ activity and performance.
(www.pcmaritime.co.uk/comm)