Ecdis training should not just be about teaching cadets how to use the instruments. It should also involve traditional navigation skills and awareness of maritime situations, said training expert Christian Hempstead. The owner of Hempstead Maritime Training said his cadets are taught to be aware of situations outside the window of the bridge as much as how to use the technology.
This is because ecdis should be viewed as an aid to navigation that could be fallible and incorrect. He also thinks cadets should be taught about all of the different methods of securing an accurate position for the vessel on electronic navigational charts.
Mr Hempstead said training should provide seafarers with the knowledge to ask the instruments the right questions. “We teach traditional navigation, so that they are able to ask how they can get those answers,” he added. “It should not just be about teaching ecdis, as crew should not wholly rely on ecdis. They need to look out of the window and this can be a problem if it is not practised.""
Practical training also allows cadets to consider the amount of time it takes to consult the bridge equipment, and the consequences this will have for what is happening elsewhere. “It takes time to look at ecdis and radar, and this reduces the time available for situational awareness,” Mr Hempstead said. He added: “They can get an understanding of this through simulation training."
He approved of the way in which the Center for Simulator and Maritime Training Academy (CSmart) deals with ecdis training. CSmart provides training for the whole of the Carnival Corp fleet of cruise ships. Carnival invested in a suite of Transas simulators for the Arison Maritime Center in Almere, the Netherlands. This resource provides a very large number of different courses, including bridge resource management and navigation.
CSmart provides ecdis training in two stages, separating it into two modules. The first module covers operation of the instruments and the other covers the management of ecdis and electronic navigational charts (ENCs) on integrated bridges. Mr Hempstead suggested that this would not be possible if IMO guidelines were followed, which provide for just 40 hours of ecdis training. He said seafarers need more practical experience and continuous familiarisation as equipment is upgraded.
UK P&I Club loss prevention advisor George Devereese agreed that traditional navigation should remain a core element of seafarer courses. “The technology can be fallible and crew can be surprised when there is a fault,” he explained. “Seafarers still need to look out of the window for situational awareness and use the instruments as an aid to navigation.” He said that seafarers need to be taught how to sift through data, so they do not become swamped with information.
Anglo Eastern Univan Group’s Pradeep Chawla said shipowners should be training seafarers now to use the future technology. He is managing director for quality, health, safety, the environment and training at the shipmanagement group. Capt Chawla said that more widespread adoption of IT in shipping will help the shipping sector to attract a new generation of high-tech seafarers. “I expect there will be a quantum leap in the next 10 years in the technology that goes into ships,” he said at the Transas global conference in St Julian's, Malta. “We will need to train people now, for 10 years from now.”
He wants IMO to update the international convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping to respond to rapid technology changes. Capt Chawla said that he believed that IMO has the ability to react to different technologies by publishing updates to its conventions. However, he agreed that there was still a place for traditional navigation training.
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