Safebridge GmbH Contracts with JRC to Provide Online ECDIS Training
Hamburg – Safebridge announced that it has teamed up with Japan Radio Co. Ltd (JRC), provider of navigation systems, to develop type-specific ECDIS training for the JRC ECDIS. JRC joins a number of other ECDIS manufacturers in believing that online training is the key to meeting the huge numerical challenge set by STCW 2010.
With the implementation of ECDIS as the primary means of navigation, and the now mandatory training requirements, Safebridge and JRC will provide seafarers around the globe with an effective and easy solution to train online and prepare themselves for their next assignment.
Safebridge will develop the courseware for use in its learning platform, which integrates the central, server-based, learning content with JRC’s own ECDIS software, running in real time, for delivery via the Internet. This process results in a standardized product, which guarantees the quality and consistency of the training while providing JRC with the transparency required on the content, which will, of course, be approved by them in accordance with STCW and Flag State requirements. Updates are simplified, as these are implemented only on the central server.
Safebridge will also provide course certification on behalf of JRC and trainee database services for reference by Port State Control and other concerned authorities.
The courseware will be released in the late summer of 2012.
“It is expected that tens of thousands of vessels will be required to install ECDIS over the next six years, and we are more than pleased with the partnership with Safebridge,” said Bas Eerden, product manager at JRC Europe. “Effectively, with nowadays the importance of the total cost of ownership, JRC is content with this new and innovative way of offering JRC ECDIS type specific training solutions to ship owners and seafarers.”