FURUNO NavSkills Network Issues ECDIS Certificate 10,000

This June FURUNO’s NavSkills network of training centers issued the ECDIS type specific training certificate No. 10,000. The certificate was issued to a Russian navigator trained at the Odessa Maritime Training Center, which joined the FURUNO NavSkills training partnership in 2013.

The high number of trainees having received the certificates reflects the strong efforts made by FURUNO’s partners in training in Asia, Europe and Middle East. FURUNO is still continuing to extend the network of training centers and have recently added Pivot Maritime Training Center in Australia and Thesi Training Center in Italy.

“FURUNO has been working hard to accommodate the great need for both generic and type specific ECDIS training and it is with great pleasure that we have passed no 10,000 certificate, since type specific ECDIS training was introduced to the market in 2011,” explained Director Yutaka Wada.“There is still a long way to go, but through our various training platforms, which are class room training and Computer Aided Training (CAT), we have managed to train a total of more than 12,500 navigators.”

The NavSkills CAT distant learning system, based on cloud computing technology, is getting more widespread, and today FURUNO has more than 150 systems in operation worldwide.

“It is a very positive sign that so many shipowners have decided to train their crew in the NavSkills training centers, because it shows an interest in ensuring that the navigators grow strong competences in the equipment that they will operate on board their vessels. ECDIS type specific training has many benefits, when it is provided in a good way. The crew get familiarized with the equipment on board, resulting in safe operation of the ECDIS. In addition they learn how to utilize a large portion of the ECDIS features, which makes it easier for them to plan and administrate their voyages and to document the voyages to vetting inspectors and PSCs. Often navigators perform double jobs, when making the voyage documentation, simply because they are not familiarized with the data export features in the ECDIS. They may miss out on features that helps monitoring the voyage or help in the planning phase, if they have not received a good type specific ECDIS training. It can save time and money in the long term, when the navigators receive a good training on a good training platform,” explained Branch Manager Mads Friis Sørensen.

furuno.com