September 2016
The SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education (PHC) has started conducting a new engine assessment program for engineering officers employed by Seafarers-contracted Crowley Maritime.
In conjunction with subject matter experts and an engineering instructional team at the PHC, the school created a twoday curriculum which “evaluates the ability of engineering officers with respect to International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW) requirements and company core values,” noted Susan Fagan, simulator coordinator and an instructor at the facility in Piney Point, Maryland. “After months of planning and running pilot courses with volunteers actively sailing in the industry, with credentials ranging from designated duty engineer to chief engineer, we have been able to create effective assessment criteria which will allow us to determine a candidate’s ability to successfully perform routine duties pertinent to the STCW-Officer In Charge of an Engineering Watch (OICEW) rating; respond in emergency situations specified in the STCW-OICEW rating; and work comfortably in an automated engine room.”
Consistent with the school’s 49-year history, the class is an example of how the PHC is able to produce company-specific curriculums. This assessment program is open to all existing and potential Crowley Maritime engineering officers and is scheduled by the company.
Fagan added that the program utilizes the school’s state-of-the-art, full-mission engine room simulator and is the first of its kind in the U.S.
Prospective students should possess an endorsement for designated duty engineer (DDE) or higher.
In its announcement about the new curriculum, Crowley noted, “The program teaches students how to use the simulator, and catalogs and critiques mariner responses to conditions that would be difficult or impractical to duplicate at sea. Results are used to track fleet-wide skills and performance, and better focus training into areas needing improvement.”
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