Consolidated Marine Signed up to ECDIS ACATS Courses

Another fleet has signed up to ECDIS Type Specific ACATS, joining a long list of global shipping companies already registered with the Annual Competency Assurance Training service.

Consolidated Marine Management based in Greece have signed up all crew on their 23 hulls for both the Furuno FMD and JRC ACAT courses, this follows another recent enrolment by Condor Ferries who have also signed up their entire fleet to the Transas ACAT course.

The ECDIS Type Specific ACAT courses have proven a success within the industry. The pricing model of £200 per hull, per year with unlimited crew is appealing to shipping companies with a high crew turnover or those whose crew changes hulls frequently.

The general consensus is that shipping managers now have the need to be aware of the competencies of their officers, in particular when using the navigation systems, instead of solely relying on them just holding a certificate.

When asked what her initial thoughts were on the ECDIS Type Specific ACAT Courses; Sanita Zurzdina, Head of Personnel at LSC Shipmanagement said:

"The ECDIS ACAT courses have been very beneficial to our company, we have already found that our crew members are being reminded of functions on their ECDIS systems that they needed refreshing on. As the Head of Personnel at LSC Shipmanagement, from my perspective the courses have given us great insight into our crews competence and have given us peace of mind that they fully understand how to use such an important piece of equipment"

Coming soon will be a range of additional ACAT refresher courses including: HELM, BTM and the STCW 6.09 and 6.10, all of which will prove to be as an invaluable a tool as their ECDIS Type Specific counterparts.