Transport Ministry to tackle the frauds in maritime training

Klassa

A huge percentage of failing grades were received at the examination session for receiving a Master's Certificate of Competency in the city of Varna last week. The cause was the sudden inspection of the Executive Agency Maritime Administration (EAMA), following the signal submitted by Klassa daily for conflict of interests and leakage of information. Two members of the Board of Examiners were dismissed and will be retired, informed EAMA's Executive Director, Sergey Tsarnakliyski. These are the Head of Qualification and Registration of Seafarers Department at the EAMA regional office, Alexander Parvanov and his Deputy Kostadin Stoykov, about whose conflicts of interests Klassa already reported in its issue of February 7, 2011.

The examination tests and tasks were changed at the last moment, while Tsarnakliyski personally arrived in Varna in order to attend the exam. At the end of the examination session, 100% of applicants for watchkeeping mates received failing grades, as well as about 75% of the candidates for chief mates. There were also candidates on the application list who completely failed to show up for the test. "I will not allow more information leaks for the exams and will be uncompromising towards those found guilty," stated Tsarnakliyski.

EAMA to prepare radical changes

EAMA is considering radical changes in the procedure for obtaining additional qualifications for seafarers. The reason is the total collapse of postgraduate maritime education in the last 10 years. Following the order of the Minister of Transport, Information Technology and Communications (MTITC) from January 2010, a working group was set up and this amendment process was launched. Actually, the amendments to the Ordinance on Seafarers' Competence in the Republic of Bulgaria have been drafted actively only lately.

The current version of the Ordinance, which was inherited from the previous management of the Transport Ministry, fails to define the standards to be complied with by the simulation systems, equipment simulators, training areas and other training facilities of authorised training centres. This practically makes it possible even for computer games to be used as equipment simulators and for any leased equipment to be used as a training area.

Klassа gave an illustrative example of the violations in training with the drill-ground for fire-fighting training in the town of Devnia, which was declared to have been leased from the Technical University (TU) of Varna. In fact, it proved that the drill-ground was half-destroyed, has rusty equipment and is unfit to be used for the purposes of marine fire-fighting training. The requirements of control on the part of EAMA are highly restricted and training courses are, more often than not, below the stipulated standards of the International Convention referring to the course's duration, training materials and facilities. These texts of the Ordinance provided an opportunity for fictive training, thus, allowing the fraudulent practise of purchasing seafarer’s certificates of competency without demonstrating any knowledge. 

In an interview for Klassa in late August last year, the Director of Executive Agency Maritime Administration (EAMA), Sergey Tsarnakliyski predicted that the Ordinance amendments will be drafted in October. However, they have not yet been drawn up. The new Ordinance is expected to be drafted within the next two months and it will significantly raise training requirements. Probably, it will stipulate the requirement for training centres to dispose of their own training facilities. This, on the one hand, will enhance the responsibility of well-organised training centres, while on a separate note, it will chill the ambitions of those seeking quick profits.

The maritime businesses will lose confidence in postgraduate qualification training

Maritime businesses are losing confidence in the professional maritime training offered by some of the current Bulgarian maritime training centres, showed Klassa's check-up. As we reported earlier, part of the foreign ship owners have also begun to refuse directly to recognise the issued seafarer's licences of competency being certified by the EAMA. The embarrassing situation was also acknowledged as a fact by Sergey Tsarnakliyski during the fourth regular meeting of the Water Transportation Advisory Board, which was held in late December in Varna. According to Tsarnakliyski, quoted by the website maritime.bg, the career development of the ill-qualified graduates has been very low both in the maritime administration and in the sector of ship owners.

"Definitely, in recent years, the quality of training in postgraduate qualifications has deteriorated very much," commented to Klassa, Captain Prodan Radanov, Manager of the Varna branch of the international company Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd. for marine personnel recruitment. According to him, the role of the state is extremely important.

"The subdivision of this training into a number of centres would be useful only if the Administration has the necessary resources for continuous quality control over ongoing courses," explained Cap. Radanov. "Of course, we should mention that there are good training centres such as the Bulgarian Maritime Training Centre SPLTD (BMTC) and the Nikola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Varna, which have the necessary training facilities and have maintained the good level of training over the years," emphasised he.

"There are downward trends for reducing the level of training of graduates of training courses. It was EAMA's obligation, however, to monitor the quality of training of the students," explained to Klassa, Captain Marin Petrov, Chairman of the Bulgarian Ship owners Association. According to him, EAMA must ensure both the legal basis and sufficient human resources in order to control the training process.

"We must have a thorough inspection of the training facilities of all centres in order to standardise their educational programmes, and to set uniform and higher criteria," commented for Klassa, the Chairman of the Bulgarian Maritime Chamber, Captain Bogdan Bogdanov. According to him, it is absolutely imperative to introduce a computer-based examination system for testing.

As Klassa already posted, EAMA following the idea of MTITC Minister, intends to introduce remote telecontrol on ongoing classes and internal exams on the courses together with a record of archives. It also provides for the permanent examination session to be held before a Board of Examiners appointed by ministerial order. This technology will save the work of inspectors, thus reducing their number, while control over this activity will be strengthened, as it happened with driving courses. Sergey Tsarnakliyski explained for Klassa that such equipped examination rooms will be set up immediately after the administration receives an approval on its estimated capital expenditures covered by projected funds allocations.

Прочети цялата новина

Свързани новини: