Month: April 2014

Videotel Multi Media Training Wins Multiple Awards

Debra Massey

Videotel’s training programmes have long been a watchword in the shipping industry for quality and effectiveness. A series of awards for outstanding performance on the international media stage has now recognised the effectiveness of Videotel’s films, animation and e-learning CBTs as a training medium, engaging the viewer emotively and graphically illustrating good and bad practices in the way a trainee can clearly assimilate.

Videotel has won multiple awards from a number of prestigious industry bodies:
• Making the Difference, Passenger Mustering and Crowd Control, highlighting the importance of psychology in effective passenger evacuation; has been awarded Best in Category in the Horizon Interactive Awards: an international competition which recognises outstanding achievement among interactive media producers.
• Catering On Board Ship Series, (Programme 9, Dry Heat Cooking Methods), the important new MLC focused training series which aims to help improve the standard of catering on board every class of vessel; has been awarded two Gold medals, one from the Horizon Interactive Awards and a Golden Reel from the MCA-I Media Festival which celebrates excellence in media communications, creativity and advancement in technical applications.
• COLREGS & IALA Buoyage Training Course, addressing the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea; has won two Gold medals, the first from the Horizon Interactive awards and the second from the World Media Festival (Hamburg) in the category of Web Based Training.
• Maritime Security Training Course, which provides a general introduction to maritime security and raises awareness of security issues when alongside, at anchor and at sea; has been awarded a Gold medal from the Horizon Interactive Awards.

“We are delighted that the consistent quality of our productions and the technical expertise of the Videotel production team have been recognised across the film and media industry,” said Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel Marine International. ”These awards are peer reviewed and, as such, provide a real vote of confidence to our painstaking and unique approach to creating the very best user training experience.”

SRI Welcomes MLC Amendments to Provide Greater Security for Crew

Debra Massey

Seafarers Rights International has welcomed the strengthening of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) to give greater protection to crew against abandonment and in cases of claims for workplace death or long-term disability.

Commenting on the amendments, adopted at the first meeting of the Special Tripartite Committee of the MLC which concluded on Friday 11 April 2014, Deirdre Fitzpatrick, Executive Director of SRI said: “SRI has studied the laws of abandonment in more than 30 countries and currently there does not appear to be any provision for compulsory financial security that can be directly accessed by seafarers in the event of their abandonment.

“The amendments to the MLC now provide for such security. If the amendments are enacted into national law, including effective operation of a financial security system, then seafarers should be protected from the worst consequences of abandonment. We therefore welcome these amendments, but it is too early to celebrate the notion that seafarers are now immediately and comprehensively protected from abandonment.”

Amendments to the Maritime Labour Convention 2006, agreed at the meeting, will ensure the provision of financial security systems to assist seafarers in the event of their abandonment and for compensation for seafarers’ contractual claims for death and personal injury. However, they now need to be approved at the June meeting of the International Labour Conference. If approved they will require member states to ensure ships sailing under their flags maintain a financial security system to cover contingencies such as personal injury or death, long-term disability or abandonment. Vessels will be required to carry on board a certificate proving their coverage, in the form of either insurance, a national fund, social security scheme or similar arrangements.

Commenting on amendments pertaining to contractual claims for death or long term disability of seafarers, Ms Fitzpatrick said: “Again the solution to require financial security could mean an effective recourse for seafarers or their families facing potentially complex legal claims for compensation due to an occupational illness or hazard. The effective working of financial security will be pivotal in both abandonment and injury or death claims.

“Our efforts must continue to ensure that both these amendments are not theoretical, but deliver for seafarers practical and enforceable rights,” she emphasized.

Women Need Training To Survive And Thrive In Maritime Sector

Elaborate Communications

Women have a significant role to play in the development of the maritime sector in the Caribbean region but in order to survive and thrive they need access to professional training and education systems backed by internationally recognised and enforced employment standards.

This was the message two leading Caribbean shipping industry executives delivered to the ‘Maritime Women: Global Leadership 2nd International Conference’ being held by the World Maritime University (WMU) in Malmo, Sweden this week (March 31 to April 1).

Claudia Grant, Deputy Director General of the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, and Vivette Grant, Deputy Executive Director of the Caribbean Maritime Institute, outlined the findings of a survey which examined the existence of gender bias in the maritime sector and its effects on women’s employment, promotion, career mobility and pay inequality.

More than 50% of the women taking part in the survey, which was conducted among women who have risen to senior leadership positions in various sectors of the Caribbean maritime industry,  indicated they had experienced gender bias in their career, with many saying it had affected their pay levels or career mobility.

The two Jamaican speakers told delegates that the Caribbean countries’ governments have recognised the importance of the empowerment of women as being an essential tool in reducing poverty levels in the region. Access to education and training are key to this empowerment and the study highlighted the benefits of the International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) Women in Development (WID) programme which has provided Caribbean women with access to the skills necessary to equip them to enter the specialised and male-dominated maritime industry.

They advised the conference that 89% of beneficiaries of the IMO WID programme are now employed in senior management positions within the maritime sector but warned: “the job is not yet complete”.

They called for ongoing training and education opportunities to enable professional women to improve their qualifications, update their industry knowledge and “survive in this sector”. They also recommended establishment of an international code and minimum standards for the employment and empowerment of women in the maritime sector, backed by “appropriate control actions to ensure compliance”. In addition they championed the instigation of a professional association for maritime women to enable greater information sharing, networking, support and mentoring.

Mrs Claudia Grant said: “Women have an important contribution to make to the global economy and within the international maritime sector and we must ensure that we create the right global framework to ensure we are able to recruit, train and retain excellent female employees in the global shipping industry.”

The WMU conference considered how gender differences and unfair practices in professional maritime employment can be addressed by all the stakeholders, at international and national level, working to promote employment opportunities and to strengthen women’s roles once they are recruited. The conference also showcased the global achievements of the women alumni of WMU across the entire spectrum of maritime activity. Both Mrs C Grant and Mrs V Grant are graduates of WMU.

Hutton’s Supports Youth Charity

Elaborate Communications

International ship supply expert Hutton’s is to provide vital medical support to a dedicated charity which is helping to change the lives of hundreds of young people.

Hutton’s will provide medical certification, lifesaving medicines and equipment to CatZero, a hull-based sail-training charity which was established following previous involvement in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

The Humber area has up to twice the national average of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET).  These potentially vulnerable young people are more at risk from significant health and social problems and are up to three times more likely to become lawbreakers.

CatZero provides an innovative, dynamic and cost-effective solution to the problems associated with unemployed young people in the area, with an exceptionally high rate of success and a sustainable programme for future development.

Working on both sides of the Humber, the charity’s 2014 programme includes:

· Helping the transition for year 6 pupils moving from Primary to Secondary School

· Preparation for years 10/11 pupils moving from Secondary School into work or further training

· Specialist courses for 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training

· Programmes for 18-28 year olds not in education, employment or training

· Entrepreneurship programmes for 18-24 year olds looking to start in business.

John MacDonald, Hutton’s Medical General Manager, said: “We are delighted to be able to support this very worthy and life-changing charity which offers training and guidance for young people, often from disadvantaged backgrounds, who need help to function in the adult world after school.”

John and his team will monitor CatZero’s medical inventory, keeping track of expiry dates and replacing items as they go out of date throughout the year, as well as supplying the team with medical equipment.

CatZero works with the most hard to reach young people through the delivery of innovative youth development training programmes. These programmes include training sessions, introduction to employment and education opportunities and links to local community activities, leading to a sailing challenge on board the charity’s 72 foot Challenge Racing Yacht called CatZero.

CatZero uses sailing to take young people outside their comfort zone, putting them into a unique challenging situation which looks at how they perform. The young people form two groups (watches) working on a four hour on, four hour off rota alongside two professional crew and volunteers. Each watch carries out key functions to enable the vessel to complete its voyage, including: navigator, engineer, cleaner, cook and team leader.

A CatZero spokesman said: “Sailing brings you back to fundamentals. Spending time on a boat seems to bring out the best in human nature. Sharing the experience with colleagues or complete strangers, working through challenges, experiencing the thrills and discovering strengths you didn’t know you had.”