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
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?
fatigue 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
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
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
