Holland America Group’s Seattle office has become the first Marlins Approved Test Centre in the USA.

Catherine Logie, Marlins Manager, recently completed an audit of the Seattle HA Group office.

Their newly-acquired Approved Test Centre status enables HA Group’s Seattle office to offer onshore Marlins STCW Security and English Language testing to crew members from any of the HA Group brands. This provides a valuable crew testing solution, allowing HA Group’s ships to focus their time on other essential onboard training.

Holland America Line has been using Marlins testing since 1997, and the relationship continues to thrive with the Approved Test Centre certification of the entire Holland America fleet and HAL training facilities located in Jakarta, Indonesia, and in the Netherlands.

Through partnership with Marlins, Holland America Line was able to ensure compliance with STCW Security certification for all its crew prior to 1st July 2015.

Marlins has a worldwide network of Approved Test Centres. Contact us for more information on becoming a Marlins ATC.

Monday 13 July, 2015

 

 

 

Marlins are pleased to announce our co-operation with UK-based charity, Human Rights at Sea (HRAS), on the development and endorsement of a new e-learning course addressing the rescuing of migrants at sea.

The new course, entitled “Humanitarian Response”, aims to provide learners with:

• An understanding of the reasons why migrants and refugees choose a sea route
• Suggestions for planning and preparing ship and crew for possible involvement in large scale rescue operations
• Guidelines and suggestions for vessels involved in the rescue of large numbers of migrants or refugees at sea.

“Humanitarian Response” builds on practical experience from private maritime security companies (PMSCs), vessel owners and managers, combined with the important legal and humanitarian perspectives. The aim is to address a significant knowledge gap in the maritime industry; ensuring an effective and efficient response to crisis scenarios involving migrants and refugees.

Mike Pearsall, Product Manager at Marlins, explains the rationale for this new e-learning course:

“We are seeing harrowing scenes in the media of the often deadly journeys taken by migrants and their traffickers through the Mediterranean and South China seas. The SOLAS Convention was never designed to accommodate large-scale rescue operations of migrants, so seafarers are facing an unpredictable challenge that they are not currently prepared for.”

David Hammond, Founder of Human Rights at Sea, adds:

“Whilst the rescue of migrants and trafficked people at sea seemingly represents an unwelcome additional burden to an overstretched shipping industry, the legal and moral obligations cannot be ignored. The issue is no longer an exception, but may well become a norm as the migrant flows continue north through Africa and from the Middle East. This new and important training provides officers, crew and companies with up-to-date information to help prepare for an encounter with migrants and trafficked people in danger at sea requiring the duty to render assistance to be undertaken by commercial vessels. HRAS is pleased to be involved in its development and delivery.”

We have recently completed filming of a new training video on navigational safety, covering themes such as passage planning, bridge resource management and working with pilots. 

Filming took place over 3 days, on board the CSCL VENUS, between Felixstowe and Rotterdam.

Thank you very much to Captain Gavryov and his crew for welcoming us on board and supporting us throughout.

© Chris Pearsall Photography 2015