International Journal

on Marine Navigation

and Safety of Sea Transportation

Volume 4

Number 3

September 2010

351

1 INTRODUCTION

One of the foremost problems in the maritime

transport industry is the lack of qualified well-

trained officers particularly in management posi-

tions. Such a dangerous situation could increase the

number of accidents caused by human error and

long-term solutions are yet to be developed.

At Constanta Maritime University, we believe

that such a long-term solution is increasing the num-

ber of students while maintaining a high standard of

training and education. During 2008, a project fi-

nanced with European funds has been proposed aim-

ing to increase the quality of training and the level of

practical skill of the students who will be working in

the maritime industry. The main aim of the PRAC-

NAV project is to reorganize the on board training

stages of the cadets in order to optimize their profes-

sional achievements.

In the years prior to 2006 the students of our uni-

versity had to surpass great difficulties in order to

acquire the 12/6 months period of sea training. In

those years one of the most difficult tasks for the

deans and rectors was to convince Romanian and

foreign ship owners to accept cadets on board their

ships. Despite their best efforts only 60-65% of our

students found placement, the rest had to resolve this

problem the best they could, relying on own person-

al relations or their luck in order to find an owner

willing to embark them as cadets. This situation

changed however in 2006, when crewing and ship-

ping companies came to our university asking for

cadets. This change in their attitude was a direct

consequence of a prognosis confirming the shortage

of well-trained officers for the merchant fleet during

the next 10 years.

We consider the interest showed by shipping

companies in the maritime education process to be

most welcomed. If they would involve in all the

stages of the educational program rather then act on-

ly as passive beneficiaries of the maritime training

institutions’ outputs, the results could prove most

beneficial (Sears D.F. 2003). They have a key role

for implementing a good on board training program

and for monitoring the way this program runs on

board their ships.

According to the provisions of the STCW’95

Convention adopted by the International Maritime

Organization, and of the European Maritime Safety

Agency (EMSA) that have found an expression in

the 2001/25/EC and 2003/103/EC directives regard-

ing the required level of training for a maritime of-

ficer, an important aspect of that training is the level

of skill acquired by that officer.

Taking into account the above statement, we con-

sider the PRACNAV project as a necessary step, fa-

cilitating the transition from the theoretical accumu-

lation of knowledge to an active educational process

with a higher level of practical skills that would give

Project PRACNAV for a Better on Board

Training Curricula

E. Barsan

Constantza Maritime University, Romania

C. Muntean

Constantza Maritime University, Romania

ABSTRACT: During 2008, Constantza Maritime University has developed a project financed with European

funds that aims for an increase in the quality of training and the practical skills of the students that will be

working in the maritime industry, by organizing and undergoing on board training stages at higher standards.

It is expected that once this objective is achieved, there will be a 40% increase in the chances of employment

in the shipping companies for the Romanian students. A coherent, modern application of such a program with

fully integrated on board training sessions, would ensure a better chance of employment for our students in

the European fleet. If the „equality of chances” principle is considered, the increase of theoretical knowledge

by acquiring specific practical skills for those students that undergo PRACNAV, for graduates of female gen-

der an increase of up to 60% in their employment chances is expected as maritime officers on board European

ships.

352

to the young Romanian officer a much higher rating

on the European labor market.

2 REMOTE MONITORING OF ON BOARD

TRAINING STAGES

During the last few years, Constanta Maritime Uni-

versity students returning from their on board train-

ing period were asked to fill a questionnaire contain-

ing 20 questions. In order to encourage them to

answer with the outmost sincerity, we did not ask

them to write their names. They were required to

write only the name of the vessel/vessels they have

been assigned to, the name of the crewing company

and/or the owner of that vessel.

The most important conclusions of this enquiry

were:

− There are great differences between the quality

and complexity of the on board training programs

performed on board different ships;

− The number of shipping companies that have a

modern and systematic on board training system

is very low;

− During their on board training period, cadets are

not usually guided and monitored by a dedicated

STO. They receive guidance from any of the

watch officers, including Chief Officer/First En-

gineer. Any available officer was allowed to un-

dertake assessment and to sign and declare the

cadet as proficient in the tasks mentioned in the

training record book.

− In most of the cases, the cadets have to learn by

themselves, looking and copying the actions and

work style of the ship’s officers;

− The quality of life on board is very important for

the professional progress of cadets and what they

feel in the first 2-3 voyages could determine their

options for their future;

− 40% of the students were not very satisfied about

their on board experience and it is possible that

many of them will not embrace a sea carrier pre-

fer from the start to find o job ashore instead

(Fig.1).

− Almost 35% of the voyages undertaken our ca-

dets were not guided and monitored by a dedicat-

ed ship training officer (Fig. 2). They had to learn

by themselves, looking and copying the actions

and work style of the ship’s officers As the stu-

dents explained, in most of the cases, they re-

ceived guidance from any of the watch officers

and any available officer was allowed to under-

take assessment and to sign and declare the cadet

as proficient in the tasks mentioned in the training

record book.

− It will be best only to work with shipping compa-

nies, without the brokerage of crewing compa-

nies, because the university will know from the

beginning where the cadets will go and could

avoid some unpleasant experience;

Figure 1. Answers to question: “Give a score for the overall

feeling on the on board training period”

Figure 2. Answers to question: “How would you appreciate the

activity of the Designated Training Officer?”

The PRACNAV project aim is to improve the

quality of professional training and skills level ac-

quired by students, during their on board training

time. Because the University has not the possibility

to monitor the student’s activity on board ships, we

need in the first place to have a very good feedback

regarding these periods of training. Until now, our

feedback was based only on the sea service qualifi-

cative, the grades mentioned in the Training Record

Book and the student’s answers to our questionnaire.

Our intention is to provide to the shipping com-

panies a standardized form that should be used to

summarize the performances and attitudes of the ca-

det during the on board stage. This form will in-

crease the shipping companies’ responsibilities for

monitoring the cadets’ activity and will allow us to

have a better picture of the problems flagged by the

owners.

This continuous adaptation to the shipping com-

panies’ requirements would ensure that the students

are much better trained and prepared for the realities

onboard a ship at graduation.

If this objective is achieved we expect that the

chances of Romanian students of being employed on

board ships that have U.E. owners would increase

with 40%. At this moment students graduating from

353

Romanian Maritime institutions compete directly

with graduates from Bulgaria, Ukraine and Poland

on the European labor marketplace. The application

of this program would give them the edge they need,

their experience and skill, enabling them to make a

better use of their theoretical knowledge.

The „equality of chances” principle is also con-

sidered and due to higher theoretical knowledge and

a higher level of practical skills acquired by those

students that undergo PRACNAV, the graduates of

female gender will have significantly higher chances

(an increase of up to 60% in their employment

chances is expected) of being employed as mari-

time/river officers on board European ships (Belcher

P et al.

3 NEW TRAINING GUIDELINES

An important aspect of this program is that we have

not designed it only for students graduating from

Romanian universities. All the materials, the cur-

ricula, the training record book, the training hand-

book for the Company Training Officer (CTO) and

for the Ship Training Officer (STO), all the docu-

ments and manuals used for individual and group

training during sea time, will be prepared in English.

A standardized format will be used, in order to facil-

itate their use by any student of any other maritime

university.

According to the STCW Convention the on board

training period must be documented in a training

record book (TRB)

The importance of this document cannot be dis-

puted. Apart form being an imperative requirement

of the STCW Convention it is a very important tool

of education especially in the cases of poor man-

agement of the on board training. We have found

that in the absence of a written plan prioritizing the

training steps and stages for the on board training of

cadets this document is the only one that gives the

STO a clue about what is to be done (Hanzu-Pazara

R., et al. 2008).

At this moment, the Romanian Maritime Authori-

ty (RMA) publishes a training record book that Con-

stantza Maritime University has the obligation to

provide to all of our students. In order to avoid du-

plication of projects and tasks completion confirma-

tion, CMU agreed with RMA that any TRB issued

or used by a shipping company that meets the stand-

ards of the Romanian TRB will be accepted as valid.

However, we are not very pleased with the con-

tent of this record book, because it does not present

the tasks the logical and order established by STCW

and the guidelines established by IMO. We have

asked our cadets if they had worked with other

types, copies of the standard TRB model published

by ICS/ISF or other record books issued in accord-

ance with the provisions of other national maritime

authorities.

For the purposes of this project we are consider-

ing the development and publication of a new TRB,

one that satisfies all our needs. We think that marks

(scores) must be given to the cadets by the STO for

the different tasks that are registered and must be

performed by the cadet. If the STO must score the

activity of the cadets, he will be more responsible in

training and monitoring the on board students.

Also, the long list of task that must be performed

confirmed only by done/undone remarks must be re-

placed with more complex tasks, projects that will

combine several competencies that will be demon-

strated.

Because for deck cadets, the mandatory training

period of 12 month can not be achieved in only one

stage, using marks for evaluation of cadet’s

achievements in different stages will reflect also the

professional evolution of the trainee.

The instructors are the second most important

target group of this program. For the on board train-

ing period our students will find a dedicated trained

person that is responsible for their education and de-

velopment of practical skills.

I order to ensure an equal level of training for all

our cadets, no matter the shipping company and the

ship itself, a training guide designed for the STO is a

must. We assume that are very few companies that

have some sort of guidelines or at least recommen-

dations for their officers regarding the mode of un-

dertaking the on board training of young cadets

(Barsan E., et al.. 2007).

Consequently, in most of the cases the STO is on

his own judgment, interest and talent regarding the

organization of the on board training for cadets.

Some pedagogical skills are needed for all trainers if

we want to obtain a positive training result.

During the PRACNAV project we will try to

elaborate a concise guide of how the on board train-

ing stages must be organized and how the students

must be coached, monitored and evaluate.

Any how, the main point of the guideline consist

in the prioritizing the on board training objectives, in

accordance with the theoretical level of knowledge

of the student.

The training materials for PRACNAV instructors

(the CTO – Company Training Officer, and the STO

- Ship Training Officer) will be distributed within

those shipping companies taking part to this pro-

gram. We will undertake short courses for the CTOs

in order to make them more aware about the real po-

tential of our cadets and about the realities of the

present MET system achievements and minuses.

354

All shipping companies are trying to select the

best of the students applying for a cadet position. In

reality, only 25% of these students can fulfill all the

expectation of the owner. The rest of the applicants

are students with average or under average level of

theoretical training (Barsan E. & Muntean C. 2008).

If these students will have the opportunity to partici-

pate on a good quality on board training process,

they can be “converted” in valuable maritime offic-

ers and their interest for the theoretical training will

increase also.

If only the top 25-30% of the MET graduates will

be employed on board ships, it is obvious that the

deficit of officers in the world fleet will be main-

tained.

4 OTHER PRACNAV PROJECT OBJECTIVES

The specific objectives of PRACNAV project are:

1. The familiarization of students to the reality

on board a ship, and to the ways a multicultural and

multinational crew member interact with one anoth-

er.

The quality of life on board is very important for

the professional progress of cadets and what they

feel in the first 2-3 voyages could determine their

options for their future. We expect that for many of

them the shock of being part of a multicultural crew,

away from their homes for a long period of time,

possibly for the first time, might be an overwhelm-

ing experience.

Although many students are motivated only by

the money that they will earn as cadets when they

choose a company, an unpleasant experience could

mean many will not embrace a sea carrier and will

prefer from the start to find o job onshore (Junzhong

B., Mingqiang X. 2007).

This is why a coherent application of this modern

program in collaboration with the shipping compa-

nies, without the brokerage of crewing companies,

would enable our university to monitor the progress

of it’s students, preventing such disagreeable situa-

tions from happening. We consider that this would

greatly reduce the number of students that abandon

the career of maritime officer.

2. Ensuring that the students can use their theo-

retical knowledge on board a ship in a practical situ-

ation, by using complex simulator training programs

that are specific to the maritime transport industry

According to the 724/2004/EC directive of EM-

SA an important characteristics of a future maritime

officer is the knowledge and skill with witch he op-

erates modern electronically equipment. This level

of proficiency can be achieved by our students dur-

ing their training with the complex simulators. These

training sessions under the supervisor of instructors

will help them gain the necessary information, and

will allow them to quickly adapt to the ship’s

equipment particularities before arriving on board a

real ship (Barsan E. 2007a).

Usually training with the help of simulator fol-

lows the theoretical curricula of the courses directly

related to the seafarer’s profession and mentioned in

STCW. Due to the limited number of hours that can

be allotted to simulator training and taking also into

account the higher costs of such a training, the sce-

nario used for simulation are trying to concentrate as

much as possible events in a short period of time 9

Raicu G., et al. 2007).

Consequently, the student is the entire time alert

and prepared to respond to the challenges impost by

the scenario. A more realistic approach will be test-

ed, meaning that in that pre-sailing training using

simulators, we will run scenarios were the main task

is to perform the navigation watch in almost routine

conditions. Exercise will take minimum 2 – 2.5

hours, and during that time there will be only one or

two events that will require attention and application

of the normal watch practice.

For the skills acquired by students in the simula-

tor room, the exercises/scenarios used for training

will be designed in such a way that they can be used

by any maritime university, having similar simulat-

ing equipment.

3. Engaging in partnership relation with a min-

imum of 12 European shipping companies that will

employ at least 70% of the students that have under-

gone their on board training on the ships owned by

those companies (Barsan E. 2007b).

We consider the partnership with at least 12 Eu-

ropean shipping companies to be a minimal condi-

tion for the smooth running of the PRACNAV pro-

ject. The finality of this project is that our students

should become maritime officers with a recognized

higher level of skill. Because of this we expect that

the companies would want to employ at least part of

them. This in turn would lead to competition be-

tween students that would only improve their level

of proficiency, as they try to prove worthy for em-

ployment.

4. To ensure that all students benefit from a on

board training on maritime ships, that have Europe-

an owners, for a period at least 5 months

The STCW 95 Convention imposes a period for

on board training for all maritime students. With this

in mind we must realize the fact that because of the

355

large number of our students not all of them will

have the benefit of being cadets on board training on

ships with European owners for this whole period.

5. Monitoring the professional career of the

graduates for a period of at least 2 years since the

moment of their graduation, with the purpose of de-

termining the international companies with the high-

er percentage of employment for Romanian mari-

time officers.

This objective is crucial for determining the ef-

fectiveness of this program. What we hope is that

major shipping companies will show a great interest

in PRACNAV and in the students graduating from

our university.

We hope that the international crisis that will af-

fect also the maritime transport will have a limited

impact on the seafarers’ employment.

5 CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion the shipping companies are the benefi-

ciaries of the maritime educational process. Those

companies that show a real interest in this process

demand that within the curricula particular attention

should be given to the on board training of students.

The PRACNAV project is envisioned to be an mod-

ern, integrated system of training, for senior mari-

time students, that respects all the legal requirements

and conventions recognized at European or interna-

tional level. At the center of this project lies the on

board training period, with the participation of ship-

ping companies.

This approach is unique, because it strives to cov-

er all the aspects of a practical training process in it

key phases: at the university, and on board a ship. At

the same time emphasis is put on feedback, with the

aim of ensuring the quality of the training process.

All the documents and manuals used for individ-

ual and group training during sea time and manuals,

the training handbook for the Company Training Of-

ficer (CTO) and for the Ship Training Officer

(STO), all will be available for use by other mari-

time universities in the UE that have a educational

program that respects he provisions of the Bologna

Convention.

There is a single major concern at this moment

regarding the positive implementation of PRAC-

NAV and the tangible results of this project after fi-

nalization. The world economic crises seams to af-

fect from the early beginning the shipping industry.

We are afraid that in order to reduce costs, owners

will lower the number of cadets taken on board and

also will decrease the founds for training of their

crews.

REFERENCES

Barsan E. & Muntean C. 2008 E-navigation requires new

methods of training for deck officers, 9

General As-

sambly of International Association of Maritime Universi-

ties – San Francisco, SUA, in World Maritime Excellence,

ISBN 978-0-615-25465-4, , Pub. CALMAR, US

Barsan E. 2007a Full ship handling simulation scenarios for

safety assessment in Port of Constantza, in “Maritime In-

dustry, Ocean Engineering and Coastal Resources”, ISBN

978-0-415-45520-0, Pub. Taylor & Francis Group, London,

Barsan E. 2007b Key roles played by shipping companies in

the MET process, 8

General Assambly of International

Association of Maritime Universities - Odessa, Ucraina, in

World Maritime Excellence, ISBN 978-966-8783-11-1,

Pub. AO Bahva, Ukraine

Barsan E., Hanzu-Pazara R. & Arsenie P. 2007 New naviga-

tion competencies required for an updated STCW Conven-

tion, Journal of Maritime Studies, vol. 21, nr.2/2007, ISSN

13320718, Croatia

Belcher P., Sampson H., Thomas M., Veiga J., Zhao M. 2004

Women Seafarers: Global employment policies and prac-

tices.. ILO, ISBN 92-2-113491-1, UK

European Parliament and The Council (EP&C) 2001, DI-

RECTIVE 2001/25/EC, On the minimum level of training

of seafarers, Bruxelles

European Parliament and The Council (EP&C) 2003, Directive

2003/103/EC amending Directive 2001/25/EC On the min-

imum level of training of seafarers, Bruxelles

Hanzu-Pazara R., Barsan E. & Arsenie P. 2008 Reducing of

maritime accidents caused by human factors using simula-

tors in training process, Journal of Maritime Research,

Volume 5, No 1, 2008, ISSN 16974840, Spanish Society of

Maritime Research, Santander, Spain

Junzhong B., Mingqiang X. 2007 Examining and Promoting

Chinese Seafarer Education and Training, 7

TransNav

2007 Conference – Gdynia, Polnad, published in Advances

in marine navigation and safety of sea transportation,

ISBN 978-83-7421-018-8, Pub. Gdynia Maritime Universi-

ty Press, Poland, 2007

Raicu G., Barsan E., Arsenie P. & Hanzu R. 2007 Realistic en-

vironments for online maritime simulators, 8

EUROSIM

2007 - Ljublijana, Slovenia, in Proceedings of the 6

EU-

ROSIM Congress on Modeling & Simulation, ISBN 978-3-

901608-32-2, Pub. ARGE Simulation News, Vienna, Aus-

tria

Sears D.F. 2003 A Perspective of Seafarers Training, 4

Gen-

eral Assambly of International Association of Maritime

Universities - Proceedings of the IAMU AGA 4, Alexan-

dria, Egypt, 2003