BC Ferries has moved the industry a step forward by advancing the state of the art in familiarization training and clearance. They have implemented what they call the “SEA Program” - which stands for “Standardized Education and Assessment”. This blog provides an overview of the SEA program. I think all marine trainers will be interested in what they have done.

Every company in the world is (or at least had better be) continuously on the lookout for ways to improve the outcomes or products they generate while maintaining or reducing costs. For familiarization training in the marine industry, self-study is one way to do both. In this blog I will talk about the benefits of self study and give some tips on how to “do it right”.

In past articles I have blogged about the value of self-study as a powerful component of a job and familiarization training program. But the question that always arises is “can a person really learn as well via self-study as they can in a class or with a trainer”? This blog post addresses that question.

In this post, I discuss the strengths and (severe) limitations of job shadowing as a training and familiarization technique. Because of the place job shadowing holds as a traditional and common familiarization practice, I am not sure how many friends I am going to make with this post. However, while working with the British Columbia Ferry Services I have seen the evidence first hand how a move away from job shadowing and toward a more formal educational process can improve familiarization experiences and outcomes.

This blog discusses the use of a private, online trainer community for the trainers in your maritime organization. Over the last year or so I have been involved in helping create one for the British Columbia Ferry Services and I believe it is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve training outcomes and standardization in your company.