Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping  has started training of seafarers in compliance with the Polar Code requirements

 In connection with the implementation of the Polar Code and adoption of appropriate amendments to the STCW Convention the Makarov Training Centre of the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping has launched two new mandatory programs for deck officers -“Polar Waters Basic Training” and “Polar Waters Advanced training”.

In May 2015 International Maritime Organization (IMO) successfully completed the work on development of the International Code for Ships Operating in Polar Waters (Polar Code)  which comes into force on the 1^st of January 2017.

The Code covers a whole range of requirements for design, construction, equipment, ship operations, crew training, search and rescue and environment protection applicable to vessels navigating in waters surrounding both poles.

In the end of 2016 IMO Maritime Safety Committee has adopted amendments to STCW Convention with competence requirements to officers in charge of navigational watch on ships operating in polar waters.

All the above mentioned encouraged the Admiral Makarov University for upgrading its simulator complex and development of new programs.  The “Polar Waters Basic Training” is one of such innovations. A new program of Makarov training centre (MTC) comprises relevant knowledge, understanding and proficiency which are just included into competence tables of the STCW Code in particular:

-Ice characteristics. Areas where different types of ice can be expected;

-A vessel, her equipment and machinery performance in ice and at low temperatures;

-A vessel operations and maneuvering in ice;

-International and local regulations and standards governing operation of vessels in polar waters;

-Technical and organizational support of vessels operating in polar waters;

-Environment protection etc.

Having completed the development of the programs, scenarios of simulators exercises, competence criteria and having harmonized the programs with IMO model courses, MTC conducted a 5-day pilot course, within the framework of which navigators of the “Spliethoff “ company delivering cargoes for construction of the factory for gas liquefaction for the Arctic port of Sabetta in the Obskaya Guba were trained.

Lectures and practical sessions for ship crews operating in polar waters are delivered by highly qualified instructors experienced in navigation in Arctic and Antarctic ice covered waters and lecturers of the «Maritime Academy» Institute of the Admiral Makarov University in compliance with the state-of-art methodology and a new program which meets the requirements of the above mentioned amendments to the STCW, MARPOL and SOLAS Conventions.

Practical sessions are conducted on the up-to-date simulator complex of the Krylov State Research Center which includes:

1. Navigational simulator consisting of six full mission bridges;
2. Complex of physical modeling of ice conditions operation control;
3. Complex of ice management computer modelling;
4. Improved models of various ice types.

The part of the program which deals with survival in hostile environment of polar regions are conducted at the Safety and Survival Centre of MTC where skills in damage control and ship abandoning in ice are acquired. Mariners are trained in the use of ship emergency equipment, survival craft and survival kits

Methods of a ship life-saving and emergency equipment usage as well as techniques of survival on ice and in ice covered waters are drilled here. Trainees are also taught to counteract hypothermia.

It should be stressed that MTC has a longstanding tradition of  training crews for navigation in ice, such training has been conducted since 2002.The first courses in Russia were conducted for «Sovcomflot» large-tonnage tankers calling at ice covered ports of the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland. Later on MTC conformed the course with «Guidelines regarding training of masters and officers for ships operating in polar waters» (Section B-V/g of the STCW Code).

A total number of trained in «Makarovka» so far comprises more than 1,000 navigators from more than 20 countries.

Implementation of new programs will allow the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping to keep leadership in this field of knowledge and improve its competitiveness

Releavant information:

The Makarov Training Centre is the major subdivision of the Professional Development Programmes Institute of the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping. The Centre effects worldwide recognized training of the university cadets and students, ship crews, and specialists of a  wide range of marine, oil and gas offshore production industries in Russia, neighboring and foreign countries. The quality of training at the Makarov Training Centre is in compliance with ISO-9001 standard and proved by Maritime Administrations of Russia and other countries, classification societies, IQNet, the Nautical Institute and other reliable national and foreign organizations.

«Krylov State Research Center» was established in 1894 as Russia’s first testing tank in the central part of Saint-Petersburg on a «New Holland» island. The institute providing concepts for navy and merchant fleet development, design and construction of ships, vessels and marine structures, their operation and disposal i.e. a complete life cycle belongs to a scientific and research branch of the country’s shipbuilding industry.

The Polar Code contains mandatory requirements for a ship safety (part I-A) and prevention of pollution from ships (part II-A), as well as optional provisions on application of both mandatory parts (part I-B and II-B)

Mandatory character of the Polar Code requirements concerning a ship safety and prevention of pollution from ships is stipulated in new chapter XIV of the SOLAS Convention (resolution MSC.386 (94)) and amendments to Annexes I, II, IV and V of the MARPOL Convention respectively (resolution MEPC.265(68)).

The Polar Code is applied to new ships built on January 1, 2017 or thereafter. Vessels built before 1^st of January 2017 will be required to meet the relevant requirements of the Polar Code by the first intermediate or renewal survey, whichever occurs first, after 1^st of January, 2018. The Polar Code requirements are applicable to all ships falling within regulations of the SOLAS and MARPOL Conventions and operating in polar waters.