BMT to develop next generation training

The future of maritime training is set to be transformed, with improved quality, increased flexibility and reduced costs for ship operators, thanks to a new cross-industry partnership. BMT SeaTech Ltd and BMT Designers and Planners Inc, subsidiaries of British Maritime Technology (BMT), will develop the next generation of ?computer based training? products (CBTs) in collaboration with Seattle-based Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI).

The CBTs will cover the STCW’95 ship-handling requirements for Officers In Charge of a Navigational Watch. BMT believes there is a definite need for maritime training to be brought in line with other sectors, where flexibility is more common. Gwynne Lewis, Operations Director, BMT SeaTech, said “At present the vast majority of formal ship manoeuvring and ship handling training is shore based, with ship owners incurring the costs for not only the training but also for travel, subsistence and, in some circumstances, overtime. We would suggest that this is too rigid a framework in the modern climate. By complementing PMI?s existing course materials with real-time simulation and adapting them both for a CBT product with state-of-the-art graphics, we will enhance the cost-efficient training of officers to the requirements of IMO?s STCW-95.”

BMT has already had discussions with the Regulators in regards to the development of CBT products and their potential applications, benefits and certification. The move is customer-driven, with V.Ships and Cunard among those to have expressed an interest in any move to modernise and enhance training methods for ship?s officers. The partnership will draw on the strengths of the two organisations, aiming to complement existing training programmes through distance-learning, and will have wide-ranging benefits for the industry.