Carnival Corp has teamed up with Marine Learning Systems to develop an application to ensure training assessments are objective and standardised
Carnival Corp has developed an app to allow it to assess the skills of its crew across its fleet.
Developed with the help of e-learning software provider Marine Learning Systems, the app was launched to help Carnival ensure its crew were all at the same level of commitment and compliance the cruise operator required. Both Carnival Corp and Marine Learning Systems presented the app to delegates at the annual Interferry conference in Mexico in October, to help give ferry operators ideas for training.
Carnival Corp director of maritime professional development John Allen explained that the words of Carnival Corp chief executive Arnold Donald were an important factor behind developing the app: “No matter which ship is sailed on [Carnival Corp] they are all as safe as each other and the safest ships that you can sail on.”
Mr Allen told delegates “We wanted to align and standardise our approach.” The challenge was the size of the company’s fleet: 105 ships across nine brands, 120,000 crew at any given time and over 6,000 maritime officers.
“Everyone was doing everything the correct way anyway, but we needed to align procedures and our training programme and that was a significant challenge for us.”
Delving into the assessment aspect of training, Mr Allen said “The assessment goes with the training needs to be aligned, we looked at what we have already.” There was a differing approach across the fleet to training, with some ships having their own fleet trainers and others using visiting trainers.
The company built a tiered competency framework and designed an approach called performance-related training.
Mr Allen said “This is where we recognise what most of our crew are doing – we assess them first and do not assume no knowledge and put them through a course. If they can do what they say they can, they can carry on working. If not, they have a targeted training programme.”
To manage this, Carnival needed a system and worked with Marine Learning Systems to develop an app that “gives it the opportunity to run an assessment programme on any ship with any of the officers on board. “We do not have the time and capability of rolling out fleet assessors, and partly we don’t want to, we want ships to maintain responsibility,” he said.
He singled out the fire-fighting training assessment application that has been created as an example. “It is simple to use and specific about assessing and metrics.”
Currently being piloted on board, Carnival brought all of its brands’ fire-fighting programmes together to create standardised competencies and put together several programmes to assess the fire-fighting capability of crew.
Mr Allen commented “While doing that we worked out that we had to do a fire-fight programme every week on the ship anyway, so why not use the drill to standardise the assessment to identify training needs?”
He singled out how all fire types were put into the app to have training for dealing with each of them assessed. “While the fire scenario can be changed, for example set in the engineroom or in the bridge, there is a standard competency for each fire type, which is the same for all of the fleet.”
The app contains an algorithm that works out whether the team and individual are working correctly or if there is work they need to do. “That is where targeted training comes in,” said Mr Allen. The app assigns skill levels between one and four: one is when a complete retrain is needed, two some mentoring, three satisfactory and four means the crew member might be asked to do peer training.
Marine Learning Systems chief executive Murray Goldberg explained the background to the app. “The skills assessment industry has been largely the same as before. There is an expert assessor observing the skill, making notes and providing feedback, which leaves much to the discretion of the assessor.
“You can get great outcomes, but you can also get very poor outcomes; you need objectivity, standardisation and consistency.”
He explained that Carnival’s training academy, CSMART, recognised this as an issue and decided to do something about it.
“They recognised the need for greater metrics around skill assessment and more objectivity and standardisation, so built a web-based skill assessor platform called SEAS and instead of a clipboard, which is what was used previously, an assessor has an ipad running the SEAS application.”
The assessment of skills includes indicators for each participant, with a check box for each individual and the team.
Mr Goldberg said “This is binary. The assessor is not being asked stuff; things either happened or didn’t, and this improves objectivity and consistency. These skills assessments are very fast paced. There might be 20 people being assessed. You don’t want an assessor to retract into thought as this is a fast-paced environment.”
An algorithm kicks in, assesses all the performance indicators and provides levels of reporting, from overall reporting to those on the team and individual, looking at whether they were fit for duty, and provides competency breakdowns for the team and individual.
As well as being used by Carnival, he pointed out that such training could be used to boost ferry safety in developing countries. “They don’t have to implement expensive technical solutions, they just need an ipad. It helps developing countries access expertise.” It also gives the safety skills these developing countries require.
AIDAnova will become the first cruise ship that can run on LNG when it is delivered at the end of 2018. To fully prepare the captains and officers for this technological changeover, a series of practical training sessions at sea started in June.
The basis of this training project is a new co-operation between Carnival Maritime and Wessels Reederei, which is providing the LNG-powered container ship WES Amelie for training purposes.
The 30-day onboard training sessions on WES Amelie enable AIDA’s captains and officers to experience first-hand what it is like to control a LNG-powered vessel under real operating conditions. A training record book is kept throughout to document the skills acquired; the participants also take part in a bunker procedure and an emergency drill. In addition, Carnival Maritime’s landside ship superintendents are completing training courses with Wessels.
Wessels Reederei general manager Christian Hoepfner said “Safe handling of LNG is a key aspect of the introduction of LNG as maritime fuel. By contributing our expertise, we hope to make the use of LNG more widespread, which will also help to further roll out LNG bunker infrastructure.”
Carnival Maritime director of maritime training Caroline Baumgärtner said “The purpose of practical training is not just to build knowledge, but also to gain confidence in handling the technology and develop safety awareness when using LNG. I am very grateful to Wessels Reederei for their excellent and unbureaucratic support. This co-operation is very valuable for our company and our crews.”
As well as the training courses, Carnival Maritime has a co-operation agreement with LNG supplier Shell. Officers also undergo intensive LNG Management Level Training at the Centre for Simulator Maritime Training (CSMART) in Almere in the Netherlands. In the next five years, the Costa Group plans to commission five LNG cruise ships, and Carnival Maritime will provide relevant training courses for the crews.
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