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www.marinelink.com 63e-Navigation will bring together dis-parate systems, making the mariner?s job easier and subsequently, enhance navigational safety and efÞ ciency. It will connect ship and shore by powerful com-munication systems and help all the op-erators on board - captains, pilots, navi-gating ofÞ cers, engineers, as well as the vessel trafÞ c service (VTS) and search and rescue operators, to effectively ful Þ l the tasks they are responsible for. Education and Training Before e-NavigationBefore e-Navigation, the introduction of new systems into shipping was ac-companied by related training measures. The IMO laid down all of the minimum requirements for seafaring personnel in the International Convention on Stan-dards of Training, Certi Þ cation and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW). While this established the basic mini-mum requirements, Model Courses with speciÞ c training requirements were de- Þ ned for special purposes and particular equipment. For example, the ARPA/Ra- dar Model course or the ECDIS Model course, has become mandatory for navi-gators. Manufacturers and suppliers of navigational and technical equipment offer speci Þ c training courses for users to support the effective operation and handling of their systems in practice, but these systems are not standardized and therefore neither is the training on them. Mariners may be able to use equipment from one manufacturer, but not from an- other. This could have an impact on their career progression, as their experience and training may be not be interchange-able with those needed to operate other vessels. There are also signi Þ cant safety implications of not being trained prop-erly on the equipment they are operating. The Impact of e-Navigation So what impact, if any, has the intro- duction of the e-Navigation concept had? ACCSEAS, a European project that is developing and implementing a practi-cal e-Navigation test-bed to harmonize the exchange of electronic maritime information, has been assessing the im-pact of e-Navigation so far by conduct-ing interviews and simulation runs with experienced mariners. Over the last year, ACCSEAS has conducted several simu-lation sessions, putting mariners into a potential e-Navigation environment with aspects such as the integration of route recommendation from a shore-based coordination centre. Mariners were also interviewed about their knowledge and training experience of e-Navigation. The interviews showed that, while e-Navigation has a worldwide community, knowledge of the concept is still at a rather low level. Almost all of the inter- viewees had received no training in the concept of e-Navigation and the closest e-Navigation came to be mentioned was brieß y as a part of BRM (Bridge Re- source Management). Most interviewees had learned about the concept from articles in industry magazines and journals, therefore most were self-informed rather than having undergone any speci Þ c training. More surprisingly, teachers and lecturers at rec- ognized maritime education and training (MET) institutions were not fully aware of e-Navigation. While interviewed mar- iners expressed their wish to be informed and educated before the introduction of the e-Navigation based new systems and concepts, most of the maritime universi-ties, academies and other training insti-tutions consulted said it is largely not a subject of training modules, lectures or other types of courses at all. Mike Foster - Vice President, General [email protected]CELL ssKyryll Karayev P.E. - Repair Yard Manager, Dry Dock Master [email protected]CELL ssTom Johnson - Vice President [email protected]CELL ss(Continued on page 67)MR #11 (58-65).indd 63MR #11 (58-65).indd 6311/11/2013 12:18:29 PM11/11/2013 12:18:29 PM