Features: - Tanker Operator

TECHNOLOGY - TRAINING SYSTEMS
Warsash has embraced Intertanko’s
voluntary Tanker Officers Training Standard
(TOTS) scheme unveiled in April, 2008.
Earlier this year, Intertanko introduced
ETOTS, the electronic training version of
TOTS, which has gained Nautical Institute
and IMAREST approval.
ETOTS was launched in association but not
exclusively with Norwegian software house
Seagull.
TOTS introduced
The initiative was introduced for several
reasons, not least due to the increase in
accidents on board tankers and officer training
requirements connected to the continuous
improvements as laid down in TMSA2.
Howard Snaith, Intertanko’s director marine
and chemicals, speaking at the seminar
organised by Warsash, said that the human
factor, which is heavily allied to the shortage of
experienced officers, could explain the increase
in incidents added to the fact that there is more
transparency today than a few years ago.
He also said that the shipping industry did
not know why this was happening but that an
inter-industry working group was analysing
some 35 fires and explosions on small chemical
and product tankers over the past 25 years.
Snaith said that the working group had
come to the conclusion that procedures on
board were not being followed. “They weren’t
complying with what they were trained for –
the human element aspect,” he said.
The group looked at the aviation industry
and in particular at the CAA, which had
designed the human element out of the cockpit
thus the human interface had become more of
a monitoring operation. However, humans in
general are not good at this, so accidents
increased, the group found.
The birth of bridge resource management
led to TOTS including a crew resource
management element in the standard. The
objective was to ease compliance by
demonstrating that the officer had undertaken
competent training and to ease candidates
into the system before they would normally
be accepted.
The human factor element that the industry
is trying to introduce is a training system that
engenders the “….not only knows and
understands, but realises the consequences of
not doing it (the task),” Snaith said.
At the STCW revision discussions, the IMO
is trying to harmonise seafarer endorsements
for handling dangerous cargoes, as some flag
administrations have different interpretations
of the sea time required for the endorsements.
Raising the bar
By and large the IMO introduces the
minimum acceptable standard requirements
but TOTS raises the bar to what oil companies
are looking for when vetting a possible
tanker’s crew for a charter, Snaith claimed.
ETOTS licenses are issued as an alternative
to the paper version and Seagull’s
involvement is on a non-exclusive basis,
Snaith explained. A company’s HR manager
can monitor progress. As for its
implementation, he said that all IACS
members were authorised to undertake two
sets of audits – on tanker companies’
compliance certificates and on audit centres.
Snaith said that thus far, both the maritime
colleges and companies were now being
audited and that around 40% of Intertanko
members have implemented, or are in the
process of implementing, the scheme, or
its equivalent.
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GOVERNMENT SERVICES > AM&M > SPECIALIZED PRODUCTS > C 3 ISR
This material is MPRI general capabilities information and does not contain any controlled technical data as defined within the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) or Export Administration Regulations (EAR).
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TANKEROperator November/December 2009