Photo and Article by Dipl. -Ing. Peter Pospiech - VEUS Shipping, Germany

NAUTITEC conducts Basic and Advanced Polar Code Trainings
"Sea transport along the Northern Sea Route must be carried out in compliance with the highest safety and quality standards with a focus on the environment," said Sergey Frank, President and CEO of the Russian shipping company Sovcomflot. "In 2018, freight transport along the NSR (Northern Sea Route) almost doubled to 19.7 million tonnes compared with 2017. There is no doubt that the significant growth of NSR traffic will bring people to the fore where the quality of shipping specialists will be critical to safe shipping," he added. This forecast was presented in early September at a working session of the 5th Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.
"There is no doubt," said Frank, "that global shipping companies must have their ships and crews sailing in polar waters trained in detail by certified training organizations in accordance with the Polar Code".

The Polar Code
The IMO adopted the International Code for Ships operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code) and amendments thereto to make it mandatory under both the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) and the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL). The Polar Code entered into force on 1 January 2017 and covers the full range of design, construction, equipment, operational, training, search, rescue and environmental issues relevant to ships operating in polar waters.
Certification under the Polar Code will be issued by the DNV-GL classification society and will be mandatory for all vessels operating in the polar regions from January 2018.

Crew training is essential
In order to support the crew, prior training in polar water operations is required.
The Leer based company NAUTITEC GmbH has one of the most modern ship simulators in Europe.
"With our simulator we are able to realistically simulate every conceivable ship passage in polar waters" explains NAUTITEC's Managing Director Georg Haase. "In consultation with the shipping companies, we organise, plan and train Polar Code seminars according to your needs. It is important for our potential customers to know that we carry out the prescribed Basic and Advanced Polar Code Trainings as a certified company with our experienced employees. We have already successfully conducted the first Basic and Advanced Polar Code trainings for a major North German shipping company”.

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