EMEA News
Call for Seafarer Training to Address Associated Risks From New Bunker Fuels
Handling low-carbon bunker fuels is going to require a big jump in competency among seafarers, a maritime consultant has said.
Peter Schellenberger, founder of consultancy Novamaxis, told maritime news provider Tradewinds that with less face-to-face contact between crew and officers, "the need for meaningful online courses and ship/company-specific programmes" increases.
"New skills will have to be certified and well-documented in the seafarers' data set and documents for easy verification," Schellenberger said.
It will take time for the International Maritime Organisation, which is addressing the issue, and member states to come up with comprehensive solutions.
In that time time-lag, the consultant argued that as new technologies or fuels are already in use, "seafarers need to be protected". He suggested that the industry come up with self-imposed intermediate solutions to ensure good operations.
Marine fuels training expert Nigel Draffin recently highlighted the problem for marine engineers who will need training in order to handle the new marine fuels effectively and safely.
