CMI Offers New Course for Seafaring Students

Final year seafaring students and graduates of the Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI), with certificates of competency from the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ), will have the opportunity to expand their skills through the introduction of a new course, ‘Mastering Yacht Life’.
The course, offered through the collaboration of the CMI, the Maritime Authority of Jamaica, HEART Trust/NTA’s Enterprise Based Training (EBT) Department and Luxury Yacht Group, is the first of its kind in Jamaica. It begins on Monday, February 15, at the CMI, with a cohort of 20 students.
Executive Director of the CMI Fritz Pinnock, informed that the course aims to improve the skill sets of participants, so that they can operate effectively and efficiently aboard luxury yachts.
“This course seeks to develop the ‘soft skills’ of the participants, because luxury yachts call for the finer skill sets that are not a regular part of the training programme,” he noted.
The two-week course will benefit from the experience of President, Luxury Yacht Group, Rupert Connor, who will be delivering presentations on the yachting aspect of the course. Other aspects of the course will be delivered by HEART Trust/NTA. At the end of the course, successful candidates will receive National Vocational Qualification Jamaica (NVQJ) certification.
Director General of the MAJ, and Chair of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) Standards of Training and Watchkeeping Sub-Committee, Rear Admiral Peter Brady, said that the course is timely, as it complements the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) standards and responds to the demands of the market.
“This is an excellent opportunity for our seafarers, and a timely launch of this innovative programme, particularly as this year has been designated the Year of the Seafarer by the IMO, which is emphasising the contributions of the world’s seafarers as well as marking the completion of the extensive review of the STCW Convention,” he said.