Seagull Maritime AS, one of the leaders in maritime training technology, has just launched its Seagull Training Administrator (STA) 4.0, the latest update to the most widely-used training administrator in the shipping industry.
The Norway-based company has been gathering customer feedback over the last several years to improve the STA’s workflow and functionality, as well as to add new features. The program itself is available to mariners both onboard ship and on the worldwide web.
Says Roger Ringstad, Managing Director at Seagull Maritime AS, “STA 4.0 is certainly a logical advance from the technical point of view in line with market expectations, but its availability also brings immediate benefits for our end-users. Web-based solutions take e-learning, assessments, experience tracking and administration of each seafarers records to a new level. Ensuring that individual knowledge gaps are identified and closed in a systematic way is vital for the industry. The performance evaluations, ability- and knowledge tests, available through the system give the industry certainty that they develop the ‘right’ seafarers for the tasks ahead.
Ringstad went on to point out, “With training records and profiles for every position and crew member onboard available at the point of need, the training manager can simply log in to access training results from any location.”
The new training administrator includes an updated, intuitive graphical user interface intended to improve workflow. Users can set up networks within their own infrastructure by installing the STA on their network server, then the crew can access their personal training and records through any computer that is connected to the network.
Another useful feature is a document manager that allows personnel to export scanned documents (certificates, course diplomas, etc.) to vessels. Additionally, the Electronic Bulletin Board allows owners to communicate important messages to mariners and receive message confirmation receipt, and acknowledgement that the message was read and understood.
Ringstad added that “[t]he new Training Administrator is also prepared to run all 3rd party e-learning content both online and offline (typical onboard vessels). This is a strong benefit as we can then support our clients, which are using training material from several sources including in-house developed e-learning content.”
As training goes more and more virtual, these new features and capabilities in training administrator programs will become increasingly important and available. Look for more technology like this, as well as the continued improvement of cloud-based services in the coming months and years.