Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC), the Port Authority for Abu Dhabi’s non-oil commercial and community ports, will broaden its Ports Training Centre offerings in 2013.

The ADPC Ports Training Centre currently offers training programmes that include Channel Familiarisation; Pilot and Tug Master training.

The Channel Familiarisation course is the main programme currently offered externally and is a navigation training course for Masters of vessels to train, on a state-of-the-art ship handling simulator, on how to safely navigate the new 53 km Musaffah channel in Abu Dhabi. Currently over 400 Masters have been trained on this course.

The ADPC Ports Training Centre also utilises the simulator to provide invaluable training for ADPC pilots looking to update their skills and to prepare for piloting some of the new and often larger vessels, entering into Khalifa and Musaffah Ports the first time. Pilots are able to plan the passage and determine the best tug configuration before the ship arrives.

In April, an additional course is set to be aimed at and offered to ships’ officers – the Human Element - Leadership and Management course, or HELM.

A five-day course, HELM will become a compulsory training requirement for all senior ships’ officers by 2017. The training course becomes available from the second quarter of 2013.

In addition, a modern VTS simulator is currently being installed in order to train ADPC port control officers to international standards. The training courses will also be offered to other ports in the region and will become part of ADPC’s drive to recruit more Emirati school leavers and prepare them for a port related career in Abu Dhabi ports.

Capt Mohamed Al Shamisi, executive vice president, Ports, ADPC, and chairman of Abu Dhabi Terminals said: “With state-of-the-art simulators and the most up to date industry training courses available, ADPC Ports Training Centre stands ready to serve not just the educational interests of Abu Dhabi’s and the UAE’s ports and shipping industry, but the ambition is for it to grow, target and establish itself as a regionally recognised centre of excellence for the training of ports officers and other maritime professionals.” – TradeArabia News Service