The Nautical Institute's North East Coast USA Branch to Hold Meetings on New Resources for Bridge R

The Northeast Coast USA Branch will hold a series of meetings addressing the use and training requirements for the use of new technology on the bridge of today’s Merchant Vessels with an emphasis on Bridge Resource Management (BRM). STCW 95 requires BRM training and instructors are now challenged with the task of developing and revising their BRM courses to include the variety of new equipment and resources available aboard modern merchant vessels.

The difficulty in developing a BRM course that includes this new technology is that in many cases “best practice and use” of the equipment has not been established and is still being debated. The NE Coast Branch USA intends to address these issues by inviting speakers from various aspects of the industry to present their views on the subject at Branch meetings.

The first of the series will be co-sponsored by The Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS, http://www.mitags.org) and held at their facilities in Baltimore MD on August 15th 2007.

The event will begin with a social hour starting at 1700, dinner at 1800, and presentations at 1900. Tariff will be $30.00 to cover the cost of the meal.

Presenters at the event will be:

Jorge Arroyo -- USCG Office of Navigation Systems
CDR Hempstead USMS -- ECDIS instructor at the US Merchant Marine Academy
Captain Wilbur Dohn -- Master in Command, Military Sealift Command.

Additional information can be obtained from:

CAPT George Sandberg -- Branch Chairman -- 516-773-5447 or e-mail [email protected]
John Carlisle -- MITAGS Coordinator -- 443-989-3311 or e-mail [email protected]