The IMO have worked on the problem for years. They wrote the Standard Maritime Communication Phrases (the SMCP) and passed various laws that all watch officers on ships of over 500 tons must learn the phrases and people are still dying. One reason is that there is no definition of what is meant by ‘an ability to use and understand the SMCP’ Chinese sailors are taught to one level, Italians to another.
Additionally, different Maritime English teachers teach different parts of the SMCP. Ukrainian mariners are using one part of the book and Philippine sailors another. Mother tongue seamen do not use the SMCP. It is not odd that there are accidents. It is strange there are not more!
An IMO regulation that demands standards of linguistic competence without defining the standards has created serious legal problems. An insurance company could refuse to honour an insurance policy in the case of an accident, because the crew has not been trained according to the IMO regulations, but there is no measure of ‘an ability to use and understand the SMCP’
A possible solution was born in Genova Italy. An Italian Company, Messina shipping commissioned the Training Company to write an exam. The exam was piloted with cadets at the Italian Shipping Academy in Genova. This is an international problem IMEC (the International Maritime English Committee ) discussed it at their last congress in Shanghai and agreed to try the exam all over the world.
It is being tried in a series of shipping academies and with different shipping companies in Asia and Europe. The International Transport Federation is monitoring the results and will set a global standard . Any companies or maritime teachers wishing to participate are invited to join in the experiment contact enquiry@thetrainingcompany.org for copies of the test
At the same time Cambridge University Press, the leaders in English language teaching publishing have issued a CD to teach the SMCP. The CD is completely self access. Mariners just need a computer and can study at sea. Every phrase in the SMCP is practiced several times and the student tests themselves to see if they have learned the material. They rehearse listening and speaking , they can record their voice, and compare their pronunciation to the models. The CD is available from Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org
The new CUP course and the international exam are simple innovations that can reduce maritime accidents dramatically.
Stephen Murrell
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