Ship & Crew Management
A) Yes, annually. However, assuming the vessel maintains the ACAT programme at £500 per year the Officers can simply complete the updated course every year to remain in-date and current.
A) An ACAT has been produced, or close to production for all 35 Type Approved ECDIS models.
A) Yes and the Ship Manager who registers the product has full access to that. The ACAT videos should help explain this more.
A) Yes there is a free trial version in the online courses tab with a selection of random screens and test questions.
A) Yes, indeed many shipping companies who have multiple ECDIS systems through their fleet do exactly that. It means that prior to an Officer changing vessel (and to a different ECDIS), he/she can re-familiarise themselves and achieve ACAT certification.
A) We consider £500 GBP per year, per Hull, per ACAT to be a very low price to remain current. However, Yes, for large fleets of multiple ACATs we have already created a fixed discount price.
Cost
A) The cost is £500 GBP per Hull, Regardless of Crew numbers or crew changes. Therefore as an example, if 25 Officers/Crew cycle through the vessel in one year, it would average at £20 per Officer per year.
Content & Requirement
A) Between 90 and 120 minutes.
A) Web, and could be conducted at sea of ashore.
We also now have an offline version.
A) Yes so far as is practical.
A) Yes - Only on the Online Version
A) Yes, and the Ship Manager/Operator can also download the Officers Certificates remotely.
A) They are CBT by definition – i.e. Computer Based, and Training. However this is not a training course that should be teaching the Officers anything new. They should know how to use the equipment already. This is to ensure they are competent in their Make and Model key Navigation Aspects that have been highlighted as failing through recent Inceptions and Detentions.
Clarification on Regulations
A) No. Assuming your Flag has adopted the IMO 1.27 Model course, Officers should have already completed an STCW 5 Day Generic Course Prior to this. Depending again on your Flags interpretation of Familiarisation or Type Specific, your crews may have also previously conducted other courses to satisfy ISM. This Competency Assurance Training is designed to:
1. Up to date every year with any changes to the make and model of the ECDIS onboard,
2. Understand the key functions for safe navigation
3. Prepared for PSC or an independent audit or inspection,
4. Refreshed annually in their knowledge of key menus and operational capability of the ECDIS,
5. Company compliant in ECDIS through annual assessments.
It is not designed to relieve Ship Managers/Operators or owners from their obligations under the STCW code.
Under the ISM Code, the shipping company has the responsibility to ensure that: ‘all personnel involved in the Company’s SMS have an adequate understanding of relevant rules, regulations, code and guidelines’ (Section 6.4), and to ‘establish and maintain procedures for identifying any training which may be required in support of the SMS and ensure that such training is provided for personnel concerned’.
This means that if a ship is equipped with ECDIS, the company has the duty to ensure that users of such a system are properly trained before using the ECDIS operationally at sea. The STCW Convention puts the onus firmly on the company to ensure that mariners on their ships are competent to carry out the duties they are expected to perform. This means that the operators must be trained to use the particular ECDIS on the vessel.
It is reasonable to assume that ECDIS Manufactures update their software constantly, such as to conform to the latest S52 Standard. Therefore one could argue that YES it is an ISM requirement to maintain current knowledge of this evolving equipment, and YES it must be considered best practice.
A) The ACAT is updated Annually, along with the questions. The Officers can carry out the ACAT as many times as they wish throughout that period, although most Operators will only be looking for Annual Competency Assurance.