Maritime Professional Training News

MPT announced the addition of Dr. Crystal Allen Craft as Vice Principal of Academic Affairs. Dr. Craft brings extensive maritime, engineering, and leadership history to this role, contributing to MPT’s position as the U.S.’s largest private maritime training school.Dr. Craft began her professional career at New York Maritime College (SUNY), earning a dual degree in engineering and humanities in 2001. Her early years at sea saw her managing complex engineering operations as a licensed unlimited engineer with the American Maritime Officers (AMO).

Maritime Professional Training (MPT), the largest private maritime training school in the U.S., announced it has appointed John F. Flanagan as the school’s Academic Principal, an expansive role that includes overseeing the overall academic management at MPT, including regulatory compliance, curriculum development, faculty training, and strategic planning. This role also involves serving on the Board of Directors, attending strategic planning meetings, overseeing academic operations…

“It was the best of times, it was somewhat confusing times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of the learning curve, it was the season of light, it was the season of, uh, still not enough light.” ― Deepest apologies to Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities, 1859As the world zeroes in on alternative energy sources and products that can deliver power and performance, there are advances that could sway even the most hardened skeptic. But challenges remain—tough challenges.Two successes: renewable diesel and biodieselRenewable diesel (RD) is required now (since January 1…

Kongsberg Digital (KDI) and the University of South-Eastern Norway (USN) are partnering to develop cloud-based simulation exercises for the international maritime education market.As a developer of cloud-based simulation software, KDI is aiming to drive the evolution of cloud simulation technology as a sustainable and immersive supplementary tool for building competencies within the maritime industry, the company said, adding its partnership agreement with USN will seek to scale up the scope of maritime training.

Marcus Cheesman started his maritime training in 1987 at the early age of 13, attending Trinity House Navigation School, the UK’s only Nautical school. Upon graduation he was selected for a deck cadet apprenticeship with P&O Cruises and continued to progress through the ranks with P&O Cruises, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line (including Windstar Cruises) and Disney Cruise Line, ultimately obtaining his Master Mariners license in 2002. He has piloted vessels on the busy River Humber based in his home town Hull…

Good maritime training provides much more than the certifications, licenses and documentation needed to qualify for the job. It goes beyond preparing crews to carry out onboard functions safely and efficiently day in and day out. Well-trained mariners have the skills and knowledge to handle almost anything thrown their way – even when confronting the unexpected. But what happens when the unexpected is a pandemic?COVID-19’s effects on industries across the world have been widespread and diverse, forcing businesses to adjust to an entirely new set of global circumstances.

South Florida’s marine industry is a $12 billion/year economic engine that provides the region with 142,000 careers and jobs. With an aging workforce and a unique skill set, the maritime community is facing a workforce that’s aging out with skilled labor being very hard to find. To assist, Advanced Mechanical Enterprises/AMESOLUTIONS.COM, and 23 marine industry companies have joined forces with Junior Achievement of South Florida.On May 1, 2019, Junior Achievement of South Florida will unveil the Marine Industry Storefront…

When talk turns to ‘Maritime Simulation’ visions of high-tech bridge simulators with seamless graphics and interwoven component simulators – engine room, DP systems, cargo loading – come to mind. But modern simulation is so much more, a wholistic visual, audio, tactile and cereberal experience that prepares mariners to deal with a bevy of real-world situations. Modern maritime simulation has evolved rapidly, driven by exponential leaps in computer and graphic display power, a…

NYC Ferry operated by Hornblower is teaming up with the oldest merchant marine academy in the country to deliver a world class training program before a majority of the new NYC Ferry vessels even arrive in New York Harbor. SUNY Maritime College was founded in 1874 as the New York Nautical School, the first school in the nation devoted to training merchant mariners. As part of this new collaboration between NYC Ferry and SUNY Maritime, future captains and crew will have access to SUNY Maritime’s top notch classroom facilities and experienced maritime faculty.

In South Florida sits MPT, one of the most prolific and progressive maritime training facilities. Already fully stocked, MPT added significant weight to its offering in 2016 with investment in 25,000 sq. ft. of new training space and technology. MPT handles more than 12,000 students a year from all segments of the maritime industry and from more than a dozen countries. With that range MPT has students from ship operators, tug companies, passenger vessels, offshore and energy exploration companies…

Amy Beavers, USCG Licensed Master, Academic Principal and VP of Regulatory Compliance at Maritime Professional Training has passed away on November 5. Services will be held on Saturday, November 12, at 11:30 a.m. at Rio Vista Community Church, 880 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33316. Longtime maritime training expert and provider Amy Beavers was widely regarded as one of the most knowledgeable stakeholders in the industry when it came to regulatory matters, especially where it intersected the U.S. Coast Guard's credentialing department. Notably, she served as Vice Chair of the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC), but to most of the mariners who came through MPT for training, she was simply regarded as the "go-to" person for answers.

Fire onboard a boat or ship is generally considered the most dangerous situation on the water. While advances in technology have helped to mitigate risk, consistently investing to upgrade a crew’s firefighting training, skills and equipment is the best means to keep crew, ship and cargo safe if disaster strikes. While innovative new fire-resistant materials and advanced fire suppression equipment onboard ships and boats has helped to improve fire security, technology alone is not a one-stop security blanket in the quest to keep crew and ship free from harm in the case of a fire.

Elmer Morley, Maritime Professional Training’s founder, long time chief engineering instructor, father, grandfather, great grandfather and loving husband, lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in the early morning hours August 17. He departed holding the hand of his wife, Beverly, and gazing into her loving eyes. His other great loves were his family and Maritime Professional Training, the school he founded in 1983. Morley will be honored with a public service at Rio Vista Community Church, located at 880 S. Federal Hwy in Fort Lauderdale at 2pm on Saturday, August 22.

Private maritime training school Maritime Professional Training (MPT) announced it recently graduated Captain Roberto Beretta who is the recipient of the first Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) Master (Yachts) - Unlimited license. Captain Beretta is the first in the world to achieve this certification, which he attained through MPT’s first of its kind, expedient superyacht-specific assessment for captains wishing to gain their unlimited license from the RMI Maritime Administrator.

Private maritime training school Maritime Professional Training (MPT) announced the launch of a new annual scholarship, the Morley Family Professional Mariner (MFPM) Founders Grant, in partnership with Boys & Girls Clubs of Broward County (BGCBC). Named in honor of Elmer and Beverly Morley, founder and CEO of MPT, respectively, the MFPM Founders Grant will offer a unique opportunity for BGCBC high school-aged youth interested in a possible career in the professional maritime sector to apply for free tuition to attend MPT’s Fort Lauderdale campus to pursue their studies…

The proliferation of increasingly sophisticated and realistic maritime simulation facilities is taking the market by storm, with investment globally to train new and old mariners alike to exacting new standards. “Simulation technology has continued on a more or less steadily upward trajectory over the last ten years,” said Sam Pecota, Director of Simulation, California Maritime Academy, “The clarity and fidelity of our current full mission simulators is significantly superior to that which was possible at the turn of the century.

For anyone keeping score, the south Florida maritime training and education infrastructure is enjoying rapid growth, driven largely by an outreach for lucrative offshore oil and gas training and education business. Case in point, today Maritime Professional Training (MPT)—the largest private maritime training school in the nation— said it selected Fort Lauderdale-based Gulf Building Corp. as the general contractor for the construction of its planned 25,000-square-foot facility expansion at its Fort Lauderdale campus.

As advances in computing power have made marine training via simulator more mainstream, the majority would contend that the most effective training is on the water, at the helm. While training on real-world vessels can be tough due to time and safety constraints, Massachusetts Maritime Academy maintains its unique solutions: the Manned Model Shiphandling Program on the Great Herring Pond. The Manned Model Shiphandling Program at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy is unique in that it is only one of a handful in the world to offer mariner’s hands-on training courtesy of professionally built…

Maritime Professional Training V-P of Regulatory Compliance, Amy Beavers, appointed to serve on Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC). Maritime Professional Training announced that Amy Beavers has received a federal appointment from Secretary Napolitano to serve in the Merchant Marine Personnel Advisory Committee (MERPAC). The committee advises the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), via the Commandant and U.S. Coast Guard, on matters relating to the training, qualification, licensing, certification and fitness of seamen in the merchant marine.

Fort Lauderdale based Maritime Professional Training (MPT) has announced accreditation from The Nautical Institute as a Dynamic Positioning (DP) Training facility, joining authorized organizations both in the U.S. and worldwide to offer training in this specialized maitime skill. The inaugral course began recently. MPT has completed installation of a state-of-the-art DP training lab utilizing Marine Technologies (MT) system software with multiple models to provide training…

Maritime Professional Training (MPT) has upgraded its simulator, and the maritime training and education provider is claiming that it will be world’s most visually realistic maritime simulator training experience. The system – which provides a true-to-life preview of a career at sea – is a result of MPT's plans to upgrade the visual projection systems of the Main Bridge located at their S.M.A.R.T. (Simulation For Maritime Assessment, Research and Training) Campus in Fort Lauderdale.

Maritime Professional Training (MPT), a DNV Approved Maritime Training Center and an ISO 9001:2008 Company, has committed another $1.5m to further enhance its “Project 2010 & Beyond”. This project was envisioned as a means to update a wide range of their courses and enhance the learning experience and cost effectiveness for their students. MPT said the funds will be spent almost exclusively as part of their ongoing expansion of its simulation facility, the S.M.A.R.T. Campus. The facility conducts Simulation for Maritime Assessment Research and Training and has long been used for both regulatory course compliance as well as research projects for port development and familiarization training.