Marine Safety Awareness Courses (North Sea region)

On a day-to-day basis, large groups of people work professionally at sea: the ‘marine professionals’. For this group of people the sea is especially important but due to commercial pressures the environment has not always had the highest priority. However due to the significant impact shipping can have on the environment marine professionals have a special responsibility to deal with the sea in a sustainable way.

To be able to deal with the sea in a responsible way, it is very important to understand sufficiently how the sea ‘works’, what the vulnerabilities are and how our activities affect the sea. Also it is important to know what sector, company or individual can do to ‘work’ with the sea sustainably. The objective of an International Marine Awareness Course is to provide this information. 

By June 2010, the IMO finished the revision of the STCW Code, in which basic international requirements on training, certification and watchkeeping are described for seafarers. In the revised code it is prescribed that maritime officers should gain knowledge and awareness of the prevention of pollution to the marine environment.

ProSea provides a model course to maritime academies and shipping companies.

Facts

Place / Location North Sea region (Germany, Netherlands, Denmark)
Commencement Date ProSea from 1999 – Save the North Sea Project 2004
Duration ongoing
Theme Prevention
Type of Initiative Policy/Regulation Implementation, Campaign
Initiated by ProSea and EU Save the North Sea Project
Involved Stakeholders Marine Professionals – Network of partners (STNS/KIMO, NIOZ, Ecomare, a.o.) and Maritime Educational Institutes (Chalmers University –S-, Skagen Skipperskole and MARTEC –DK-, Hogeschool Zeeland and TU-Delft -NL-, a.o.).
Funding/Financial Support YES - EU project - Interreg
Success Rate Increased awareness and knowledge.
Case Study prepared by

Ryan Metcalfe, KIMO Denmark

 rydm@varde.dk

+45 79947465
Submitted by Ryan Metcalfe/ Poul Sig Vadsholt

Available documentation and further information

http://www.kimointernational.org/Marine-Awareness-Courses.aspx

http://www.prosea.info/?page_id=728