Page 11 - The flag March 2016

BAHAMAS MARITIME CADET CORPSThe Bahamas Maritime Cadet Corps (BMCC) is a programme instituted by the Bahamas Maritime Authority, to introduce and prepare high school students – grades 10 through 12 – for employment in the maritime industry.It is conducted in conjunction with the Ministry of National Security via the Royal Bahamas Defense Force and the Ministry of Education.Presently, the BMCC holds classes for cadets from High Schools in New Providence (189), Grand Bahama (78), Abaco (40), Eleuthera (67) and Inagua (10), a total of 384 students nationwide. BMCC is readily available to the other Bahamian Islands for school talks, career fairs and other events.The thrust of the BMCC is to motivate, advise and give guidance to aspiring Bahamian seafarers. To date 708 young Bahamians have graduated from the programme, with over 80 per cent remaining in the industry either as students, employees or a combination of both.The BMCC uses 20 highly trained RBDF present and retired personnel to deliver all course material in Vessel Types, Seamanship, Navigation, Ship Husbandry, Rules of the Road, Basic Engineering and Fire Fighting. All graduates are given the basic STCW 1978 (as amended) courses.Technical Schools are the choice for the majority of cadets seeking international certi cation, as nancial aid to Universities is quite limited. The BMCC provides constant guidance to these ambitious cadets and their parents who seek guidance for the cadets’ career paths.Universities attended by cadets are predominantly American with SUNY and CalMaritime leading the way. Historically, Bahamians have attended SUNY since the 1960’s and the BMCC encourages all cadets with the academic acumen and nancial means to attend rst class maritime institutes then embark on a life at sea. In thisvein, the BMA offers full four-year scholarships to highly quali ed cadets to attend SUNY.LJM Maritime Academy is a welcome addition for the BMCC grads as it gives a high level of training at a reasonable price and it is located right here at home.u SUNY MARITIME & BAHAMAS MARITIME AUTHORITYAudit of STCW TrainingProviders in The BahamasBY CAPT ÓLI H H OLSEN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR, SEAFARERS & MANNINGCaptain Oli Olsen of the BMA conducted STCW audits of two training providers in The Bahamas, LJM Maritime Academy (LJM) based in Nassau and Shipmate Ltd based in Freeport.u STCWTRAININGBoth providers were deemed to comply with relevant provisions of STCW 1978, as amended (STCW) and were approved in accordance with their respective approval applications.The audit of LJM was a follow-up to an initial audit made in 2014, and resulted in the approval of their training programs for “Of cer in Charge of an Engineering Watch ( STCW III/1)” and for “Of cer in Charge of a Navigational Watch ( STCW II/1)” . Shipmate is fully approved to provide “Basic Safety Training” in accordance with the provisions of STCW VI/1.the agThe BMA continues to engage with LJM as this provider is aiming to seek approval for STCW management level certi cation. LJM has a quality management system in place and future work will mainly consist of developing syllabuses, subject to approval by the BMA, for the additional training it plans to provide.In 2014 Gadites Navigational Technical Institution (Gadites) and the Bahamas Maritime Training Institution (BMTI) were also audited and approved to conduct safety and security training and certify seafarers in accordance with STCW.The approval process for training requires training providers to comply with the standards of STCW Regulations I/6 and I/8 – the international quality standards training institutions must follow in order that the training will be accepted. Compliance with STCW requirements is essential for all maritime training.A total of four (4) training providers based The Bahamas are now approved by BMA to provide training for seafarers and issue the appropriate certi cate in accordance with the provisions of STCW: –• Bahamas Maritime Training Institution (BMTI): Basic and advanced Safety Training in accordance with STCW Chapter VI;• Gadites Navigational Technical Institution (Gadites): Basic and advanced Safety Training and Security Training in accordance with STCW Chapter VI;• LJM Maritime Academy (LJM): Of cer in charge of a Navigational Watch training, Of cer in Charge of an Engine Room Watch training, Ratings (Navigation and Engineering) training, basic and advanced safety and security training in accordance with STCW Chapter VI and• ShipmateServicesLtd(Shipmate)basicandadvancedSafetyTraining and Security Training in accordance with STCW Chapter VI.The BMA will continue to audit the Bahamas training providers on a regular basis to ensure their continuous compliance with the international requirements. The Authority will also organise and perform assessments of Bahamas seafarers in order to verify that they are quali ed to receive Bahamas National Certi cates to sail as of cers on any ship in the world.11