UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Officer Trainee of the Year Announced
A deck officer who discovered a “love for the sea” as a young teenager has been given the 2023 Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s Officer Trainee of the Year award.Katie Jayne McGahan Hargreaves was chosen for her willingness to go above and beyond in promoting the maritime industry as an enthusiastic and dedicated ambassador.She was just 13 years old when she found her passion for the water, almost by accident, having taken up an invite to join her brothers in the Sea Cadets during the school holidays.Katie signed up to a sailing course within weeks and her new lifelong ambition saw
NASH Maritime Hires Clark as Governance Lead
two decades of both maritime risk and mariner experience. He started his career at sea, before joining Bristol Port Company as Assistant Harbor Master and later becoming responsible for VTS and shipping operations. Other roles have included Vessel Traffic Management and Ports Liaison with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. Most recently, he was Group Marine Technical Authority at Associated British Ports, leading the Port Marine function and fulfilling the Designated Person role for their 21 ports.NASH Maritime co-founder, Dr. Ed Rogers, said, “I’m delighted that James Clark is joining us as
McVea Tapped to Lead the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Virginia McVea has been named as the next chief executive officer of the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) effective April 3, 2023.Damien Oliver has been serving as the MCA's interim CEO since October 2022, following the retirement of the agency's former head Brian Johnson.U.K. Maritime Minister Baroness Vere said, "[McVea] joins at a pivotal time for the agency as it faces both challenges and exciting opportunities, and I look forward to working with her to grow the U.K. flag, decarbonize the maritime sector and encourage greater investment in the U.K."McVea was previously
Stream Marine Training Re-opens
Stream Marine Training (SMT) reopened for business on June 1, offering a blended digital and classroom based range of STCW safety critical courses to support the maritime industry’s key workers.Having run dozens of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency, MCA approved STCW webinars over the past month, the team at SMT has put together a schedule that allows their customers to do the theoretical elements of the Basic Safety Week and Refresher cycles using a live interactive digital platform.For the practical elements, new stringent policies that comply with the HSE and Government guidelines have
Maritime Fatigue: Just another band aid?
in the transportation sector. It stated in a recent report: Because “powering through” fatigue is simply not an acceptable option, fatigue management systems need to allow individuals to acknowledge fatigue without jeopardizing their employment. Likewise, the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) considers seafarer fatigue to be a potentially serious issue which is detrimental to safety at sea and the health of seafarers.The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) found the following:Everyone has experienced fatigue at some point, but in the transport industry, where there&rsqu
New Seafarer Training Center Opens in Phuket
. Students can walk to all the Galileo campus facilities in the 200 acre site which includes a marine engineering school, a survival craft and fast rescue boats training jetty, an advanced fire-fighting school and 8 training vessels moored in the marina.Galileo is accredited by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and approved to provide 21 MCA professional seafarer courses and to issue MCA Certificates of Proficiency including basic and advanced STCW qualifications and refresher courses. Over the last five years Galileo Maritime Academy has established itself as the flag-ship MCA training
Stream Marine Training Building New HQ
programs.” White said SMT has further plans to expand to Merseyside and is actively pursuing new business in Singapore, the Far East, the United States, Europe and the Isle of Man. SMT’s courses meet the requirements of training approval bodies such as Maritime and Coastguard Agency and Merchant Navy Training Board
Barham Named UK Ship Register Director
Simon Barham has been appointed as the first U.K. Ship Register Director at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, scheduled to start his role in February 2016. Barham brings to the position both commercial and technical experience from his 40 year career in the industry. He initially served at sea for 16 years and since then has held senior positions ashore within both ship owning and ship management companies across the world. Previous roles include chief operations officer at Bibby Ship Management, managing director of Reederei Nord Ltd, chief executive officer of Gulf Navigation PJSC and
Making Sense and Taking Risks: Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry
. From our summary of “The Human Element – A Guide to Human Behavior in the Shipping Industry,” we examine the chapters “Making Sense of Things” and “Risk Taking,” breaking down the most relevant information. Dirk Gregory and Paul Shanahan of the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency developed the original guide. Making Sense of Things People are surrounded by vast amounts of information and need to make sense of it all. We need that information to support our goals and plans, as they cannot withstand a changing world without adapting to the current situation
Marine Employers Urged to Prep for Regulatory Changes
apply to thousands of seafarers, so we are encouraging companies to be ahead of the game and to plan their training schedules accordingly. The worst case scenario is that workers may not be able to sail and carry out their duties but this can be avoided.” PTS is approved by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to deliver initial and updating training for all the required courses, and is also arranging an increasing number of courses to meet customer-specific requirements.
New Qualifications for Commercial Yacht Crews
seafarers with a career path that allows them to upgrade qualifications to larger vessels by undertaking further study. Similar qualifications have existed in the United Kingdom for some time, and Marine Order 74 will allow AMSA to recognize equivalent certificates issued by the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency. AMSA said it is currently drafting Marine Order 74 (Master and deck officer yachts) to give effect to these new qualifications and anticipates that the order will be complete in the first quarter of 2016
Minister Awards MCA’s Trainee of the Year
with an award that will be presented by the U.K. Shipping Minister at a ceremony in London tomorrow, Wednesday, October 15, 2014. Jonty Turnbull of Blackpool and the Fylde College, who was serving on-board the Foreland Shipping-owned vessel, MV Hartland Point, is the 2014 winner of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Officer Trainee of the Year Award. The award will be presented at Haberdashers Hall, London, by the Rt Hon John Hayes MP, Minister of State for Transport, who said, "I am delighted to attend the ceremony tomorrow. It is so important that we celebrate these achievements
Videotel Enhances MCA-Approved Security Training Courses
Course is for personnel who are nominated as ship’s Security Officers and the Designated Security Duties Training Course is for personnel on board with Designated Security Duties. Both training courses contain brand new resources and training material, and have been approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). Nigel Cleave, CEO of Videotel, explains: “The ever increasing threat to maritime security is behind the decision to enhance our security training for Ship Security Officers and the important issue of Designated Security Duties. The courses meet legislative requirements
UK Shipping Industry Broadly Welcomes Commons' Committee Report
of a review into the UK shipping industry which was undertaken after the government and industry entered into a ‘strategic partnership’ in 2013. The UK Chamber of Shipping and maritime unions have broadly welcomed the review's findings and recommendations, which focus on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) and UK seafarer jobs. Doug Barrow, chief executive of Maritime London, welcomed the committee’s concerns on seafarer numbers, saying: “The foundations of a successful maritime services centre are its highly skilled staff, and many of the skills required for a maritime
Boat Company Fined for Operating Unlicensed Vessels
on a section of the Leeds to Liverpool canal at Skipton and are authorised to carry no more than 12 passengers. Carrying more than 12 passengers would require the vessels to be surveyed and issued with passenger certificates if they met the required safety standards. On 31 July 2013 a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) surveyor saw ‘Leo’ being operated with 13 passengers on board and the company was spoken to. ‘Sam’ was filmed operating with 13 passengers on board on 2 August 2013 while under the control of Mr Clarke. These incidents occurred after the company had
