First USCG-Approved ECDIS Course Set
The first U.S. Coast Guard approved ECDIS training course is now being offered at Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute in Seattle, Wash. ECDIS integrates the navigational functions of chart upkeep, voyage planning, route monitoring, traffic management, and computer operation. Everyday, more mariners must plan passages, navigate routes, negotiate traffic, and handle their vessels while making use of ARPA, paper chart plotting, visual piloting, and managing ECDIS. Full-scale, certified ECDIS training, such as this 35-hour course, is the surest way for mariners to confidently integrate the powerful ECDIS tool into the complexities of modern bridge operations, says PNW Director Gregg Trunnell.
MITAGS Provides Training
MITAGS provides ship pilots, maritime organizations and government employees with small arms training, employee awareness, security assessment, security management, chemical, biological, and radiological training for enhanced public and organizational safety and security. Glen Paine, executive director of the Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute (PMI) Seattle, Washington announced that its small arms and other security enhancement training programs are now open to all companies and organizations. "The attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 has created a demand for enhanced security for American citizens, maritime organizations and government officials.
First USCG Approved ECDIS Training Couse
The first United States Coast Guard approved ECDIS training course will be offered at Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute as of Monday, February 26, 2001 at the Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute (PNW) in Seattle, Washington. ECDIS integrates the navigational functions of chart upkeep, voyage planning, route monitoring, traffic management, and computer operation. Everyday, more mariners must plan passages, navigate routes, negotiate traffic, and handle their vessels while making use of ARPA, paper chart plotting, visual piloting, and managing ECDIS. Full-scale, certified ECDIS training, such as this 35-hour course, is the surest way for mariners to confidently integrate the powerful ECDIS tool into the complexities of modern bridge operations, says PNW Director Gregg Trunnell.
U.S. ENC Availability Starts to Gain Speed
It is no secret that acceptance and incorporation of electronic charting systems has been more widespread in Europe than in the U.S., as European governments and commercial organizations collectively have worked more diligently together and built and maintained a lead in this area. The gap, however, is closing, as the era of the electronic chart is quickly arriving in the U.S. In a recent Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), the U.S. Coast Guard announced that it is considering the feasibility of allowing commercial vessels to use electronic charting and navigation systems as their primary means of navigation in U.S. waters. It would have to meet ECDIS standards as supplied by the IMO.
MITAGS, NWS Marine Prediction Center Sign Formal
Glen Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS) and Pacific Northwest Maritime Institute, has announced that the Institute has entered into a formal agreement with the National Weather Service's (NWS) Marine Prediction Center (MPC) located in Camp Springs, Maryland. Mr. Paine and Dr. James E. Hoke, MPC Director, signed the agreement on September 5, 2001. The agreement states MPC will provide weather instruction, as time and resources permit, in MITAGS' Heavy Weather Avoidance course, Marine Weather course, Master Mates and Operator course and other licensing courses requiring weather skills.
