09 May

Bermuda’s New Marine Assistance Company calls upon Confident Captain/Ocean Pros for Advanced Towing Techniques Training

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
Press Release May 12, 2008  Bermuda’s New Marine Assistance Company calls upon Confident Captain/Ocean Pros for Advanced Towing Techniques Training  Sea Assist Limited, Bermuda’s first marine assistance company has contracted Newport, RI based Confident Captain/Ocean Pros, to train its staff in advanced towing methods, safety, security, and risk management. Confident Captain/Ocean Pros staff traveled to the island in early May…
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07 May

Problems obtaining TWIC cards causing frustration for many mariners

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training, Maritime News
Capt. Reg White, 73, has had his mariner’s license since 1954. He didn’t expect any problems when he applied for his Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC).He and his wife, Connie, who both live in Honolulu, went to that city’s enrollment center on Dec. 6, 2007, to begin the application process. The Honolulu center was one of the first in the…
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07 May

Flaws in TWIC rollout could hurt mariners and the entire industry

Professional Mariner StaffA Mariner's Notebook, Licensing & Training
  After years of delays, the rules for obtaining a Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) were finally established by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Safety Administration in 2007. Nationally, as of Sept. 25, 2008, the TWIC card will be required for anyone who is allowed unescorted access to a marine terminal or a secure area of a vessel.…
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02 May

Coast Guard Web site provides status of mariner credential applications

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training, Maritime News
To provide mariners with more timely information about their credential documentation, the U.S. Coast Guard has upgraded its Web site. In May, the Coast Guard announced a new feature on its Web site that provides merchant mariners with real-time information on the status of pending mariner credential applications. To gain access to the information, a mariner can log onto http://homeport.uscg.mil/,…
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02 May

MarineSafety International introduces new tug simulator

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
Marine Safety International's tug simulator boasts Rolls Royce z-drive controls and Markey Machinery Co. winch controls. (FLUSHING, NY – APRIL 28, 2008) – MarineSafety International, Inc. announced today the availability of a new tug simulator at its Newport, RI training and research facility. The new simulator was built from the plans for the wheel house of a recently-built ASD tug.…
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30 Apr

Northrop Grumman offers DVD training packages for nav. systems

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
(CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – APRIL 29, 2008) – Northrop Grumman Corporation has launched a new eLearning initiative to support its Sperry Marine Voyage Management System (VMS) ship navigation software. Sperry Marine, a business unit of Northrop Grumman, has produced a series of DVDs containing video training lessons covering various aspects of VMS operation and maintenance. The eLearning DVDs condense several days of…
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28 Apr

California Maritime’s Golden Bear departs for training cruise in South Pacific

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
The California Maritime Academy's Golden Bear III. (VALLEJO, CA – APRIL 25, 2008) – The California Maritime Academy’s 500-foot training ship Golden Bear III will depart the campus pier on the Carquinez Strait at Vallejo at 8:30 Sunday morning, April 27th for a nearly 24,000 mile training voyage to the South Pacific.  The ship will call ports in Tahiti, Tonga,…
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23 Apr

Capt. Harry Bolton named new master of training ship

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
Captain Harry Bolton boasts an impressive naval record and is a First Class Pilot. He was recently named Master of the California Maritime Academy's training ship Golden Bear. (VALLEJO, CA – APRIL 21, 2008) -- Captain Harry Bolton, a 1978 deck-officer graduate of the California Maritime Academy, has accepted the position of Master of the University’s 500-foot Training Ship Golden…
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23 Apr

INTERTANKO launches Tanker Officer Training Standards initiative.

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
(ARLINGTON, VA - APRIL 23, 2008) -- INTERTANKO launched its Tanker Officer Training Standards (TOTS) initiative, an ambitious project on which it has been working with some intensity in a bid to respond to industry concerns over how to establish officer training standards. The main aims of the TOTS system are to provide the tanker industry with a clear standard of…
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22 Apr

Training plays a key role in keeping specialized vessels operating

Professional Mariner StaffLicensing & Training
Complex vessels like Rigdon Marine’s St. Louis, with its diesel-electric propulsion system, are creating the need for more highly trained mariners. (Brian Gauvin) Over 12,000 mariners are employed on the vessels that support the offshore oil and gas industry. And with drilling at a 20-year peak, demand for people with their specialized skills is growing. The booming liquefied natural gas…
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