This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

Project summary

Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) has been in operation worldwide since 1st February 1999, specifying GMDSS communication equipment for marine vessels, and rescue procedures for vessels and humans at sea with the objective to maximise safety at sea. People working in marine areas – mariners - seafarers, fishermen, yacht captains, sailing boat skippers, marina workers, nautical science students/cadets, etc. must be qualified to operate the specified equipment. Vocational qualification is certified through internationally recognised certificates that are prescribed based on navigation area and vessel type.

This professional qualification is crucial for safety which is evident from the following published facts:

• 80% of accidents at sea are caused by human error because the regulations and standards that do exist have been ignored. - IMO (International Maritime Organisation), 13 January 2005
• In the last 10 years almost 2000 ships (ships of 100 Gross Registered Tons and above) were lost with more than 5000 victims. - IMO, FSI.3/Circ.6, 23 February 2005
• These are some of the reasons that young people today do not seem to find seafaring an attractive or appealing career. ISF/BIMCO statistics predict a 40.000 shortfall in navigation officers worldwide by 2010. – IMO, World Maritime Day 2003, J/8351, 2003

The project focuses on the provision of vocational education and continuing vocational training for Short Range Certificate (SRC) which is mandatory for mariners operating vessels of up to 300 Gross Registered Tons within 30 Nautical Miles from coast.

All mariners with adequate professional qualification must also obtain the SRC, however, access to the required knowledge is limited which doesn’t encourage regular refreshing of knowledge – life-long learning. Keeping the SRC skills up-to-date is crucial because emergencies at sea occur rarely. This knowledge and skills should be regularly refreshed to ensure safety of crew, passengers and freight (even though this is not a legal requirement). SRC certificates are internationally recognised throughout the EU.

The project outcome will be a GMDSS e-learning system accessible on the Internet web site www.egmdss.com which is based on a pilot that has been developed in cooperation with Adapta d.o.o. (one of the partners in this project proposal).

The GMDSS e-learning system will:

• include SRC course for which vocational education certificate will be obtained by awarding body EDEXCEL,
• enable obtaining knowledge required for an SRC award as well as support life-long learning and knowledge updating,
• target all mariners and those people who aspire to become one (several million in EU alone),
• be available in English 13 months from project start to obtain user feedback (special test user groups to actively participate in the system design and development will be established in almost each partner country),
• be available also in Slovenian, Greek, Turkish, Italian, Polish, Finnish, Spanish and Dutch (and possibly other languages) 19 months from project start,
• include GMDSS communication device simulators (putting a learner into an active role - instead of answering questions the learner actively practices and verifies their knowledge on a simulator),
• include real-life animation of GMDSS communication device operation (conveying to the learner how a device operates),
• facilitate do-it-yourself learning as well as tutoring,
• facilitate distance learning.

Based on our experience running the pilot in Slovenia (2000 users yearly) and yearly number of SRC awards in different EU countries (14000 in UK, 7000 in France, 1000 in Slovenia...) we estimate an uptake of the e-learning system of at least 200,000 EU citizens, doubling this figure if non-EU citizens are also considered.

The project should encourage regular refreshing of knowledge and skills required for an SRC– life-long learning, because it will provide an easy access to required knowledge and skills. Better vocational qualification of mariners should ensure the desired effect of improved safety at sea resulting in lower loss of human lives and material damage.

Project contractor and partners

CONTRACTOR

SONČNA POT 8, 6320 PORTOROŽ

PARTNERS

PLAZA DE PALACIO N 18, 08003 BARCELONA

Universidad de Cádiz

Spain

Suojantie 2, 26100 Rauma

Iroon Polytechniou Ave 96, 18536 Piraeus

Via Toledo156, 80132 Napoli

Dellewal 8, P.O.Box 26, 8880 AA Terschelling West

Waly Chrobrego ½ str., 70-500 Szczecin

ABRAMOVA 12, 1000 LJUBLJANA

İstasyon Mah., Hacıoğlu Sok., Tuzla, Istanbul, 34940

University of Warwick Science Park, Barclays Venture Centre, Sir William Lyons Road, Coventry, CV4 7EZ

Project activities

• February 2008 - The SRC course is being translated in several European languages
• January 2008 - The SRC course on Moodle LMS is checked by English native speakers and put in right English
• January 2008 - The SRC course was launched on www.egmdss.com
• December 2007 - The new entry web page is developed
   
• November 2007 - The SRC course on Moodle LMS is evaluated and revised by project partners
   
• 11-12.10.2007 - 2nd partner meeting in Kenilworth, United Kingdom

 

• June 2007 - Moodle LMS is set up and first version of the SRC course is added and is available only to project partners
   

• 25.10.2006 - Start of content development and setting up Moodle LMS
   

• 19-20.10.2006 - Kick off meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia

 

• 1.10.2006 - Project start