Rood News

FleetPro says it will manage the technical and hotel operational services of Haimark Line's newly acquired MS Saint Laurent” from May 3rd, 2015. Haimark Line, with offices in Denver, Chicago and Berlin will launch the highly popular Great Lakes and St Lawrence Seaway Cruises with the intimate 210 guest MS Saint Laurent (formerly known as Sea Voyager) which was purposely built for Great Lakes Cruises and expedition-focused exotic Central and South American sailings. The Saint Laurent will be completely updated and refurbished before entering into service. Including the addition of expedition cruise features such as a new fleet of zodiacs and refurbished outdoor areas idea for enjoying vistas.

Rood Boven Groen has increased its training portfolio by adding the third security training: Ship Security Officer according to STCW’78 including the 2010 Manila amendments. This course has been recently approved by the Netherlands Shipping Institute. Last year the IMO training Security Awareness and Designated Security Duties conducted by Rood Boven Groen were approved as well. These two trainings are included in the Ship Security Officer course as per IMO specifications. Rood Boven Groen included many practical exercises using the Ship Security Plan and de ISPS Code to make the dry matter easier digestible. The participants described the course as ‘lively’, ‘educational’ and ‘fun’.

As one of a few training institutes in the Netherlands, Rood Boven Groen has been certified by ILT to teach the new IMO recognized training Security Awareness en Designated Security Duties according to STCW’78 including the 2010 Manila amendments. After successful completion of the course the participants will receive the certificate for either Security Awareness or Designated Security Duties. From the January 1, 2014 both certificates are compulsory for all crew on ships sailing under the ISPS Code. From November 5-8, 2013, Rood Boven Groen offers the course Security Awareness training for the first time in combination with the basic safety training in Enkhuizen (The Netherlands). This is the basic, minimum training for all seafarers.

According to reports, U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas John Rood continues to push for The Bahamas to sign onto the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), but according to the country’s foreign minister, The Bahamas – the world’s third largest ship registry – remains cautious. The PSI would give the US the right to search any of thousands of Bahamas-flagged ship anywhere in the world under the pretext of searching for nuclear material or weapons of mass destruction. After applauding the conclusion of the Megaports Initiative (MPI) and the Container Security Initiative (CSI) as major accomplishments in US-Bahamas relations, Mr. Rood pointed out that The Bahamas has yet to sign on to PSI.