Consistent to its annual appointment with the Greek Shipping community the Seagull Annual User Meeting took place with great success on the 18th of October 2017 at the Athenaeum Intercontinental Hotel, with an audience of more than 130 attendees.

The Seagull User Meetings have been designed for the local shipping community to network and share their experiences with colleagues and friends. The meetings are open to all and are held in several maritime centers each year such as Singapore, Germany, Cyprus, Norway, UK (London), Philippines (Manila) and of course Greece. The challenges of onboard training and distance learning are of great interest for the maritime industry offering certain advantages and cost savings. These trends were examined in the Seagull User Meeting.

The attendees had the chance to discover opportunities from new Seagull software packages on E-learning, onboard training and assessment material, through interaction between speakers and participants.

Mr. Ioannis Athanasopoulos, Managing Director of Seagull Maritime Greece

Mr. Ioannis Athanasopoulos, Managing Director of Seagull Maritime Greece presented the speakers and gave the welcome address as well as a detailed update on Seagull’s latest developments in all aspects. Mr. Athanasopoulos stated that Seagull Maritime AS since its formation in 1996 has been delivering a full range of seafarer training, assessment and management tools to ensure that STCW requirements, IMO standards and industry requirements are met and exceeded on board vessels. It produces specialized E-learning software and Films used by well over 700 clients across the shipping industry, with more than 10.000 vessels and office installations around the world. Seagull training services are supported by a network of offices worldwide with the headquarters in Norway and group branches in Germany, UK, Poland, Greece, Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong. Mr. Athanasopoulos pointed out that Seagull’s products are certified by DNV-GL, approved and accredited by flag states such as Norway, Bahamas, Cyprus and many others

Mr. Roger Ringstad Managing Director of Seagull Maritime Norway presented new Developments of the company. He referred to the company’s new released E-learning titles, Films (Reflective & Resilience), to the collaboration with DNV GL for the Cyber Security Modules, he presented new features of Seagull’s updated Administrative software (STA 4.0) ,Seagull’s mobile app, new tools for training monitoring and compliance. Furthermore, he mentioned Seagull’s collaboration with Intertanko in developing new Competence standards, which will replace TOTS. Lastly, he underlined that Seagull is already in action and will be compliant with the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) of the EU.

Mr. Stavros Meidanis, DPA/CSO , S&Q Manager in Capital Ship Management presented the user’s view for the Seagull Training System and Crew Evaluation System (CES). Capital operates 56 vessels - 41 Tankers/ 5 Bulkers/ 10 Containers). Capital Ship Management started using the Crew Evaluation System in their vessels & offices (Romania/Greece / Philippines / Russia) in 2007 and Seagull’s e-learning material (CBT & Video) onboard vessels in 2006. Among other benefits, he noted the full track of all performed training, the cost effectiveness, the immediate support and the positive approach by various third parties (Oil Majors, Port State, etc.).

Capt. Kuba Szymanski, Secretary General of InterManager delivered a presentation related to the very hot topic of “Cyber Security”. He referred to usual habits everyone performs every day and make us sensitive to Cyber Security Risks. After 8 critical questions addressed to the audience, he concluded that everyone should be very careful and think prior to connecting devices to public networks, when setting our passwords and also be aware of the fact that the harm of a Cyber Attack can be irreversible and costly.

Mr. Torger Tau, Senior instructor in Seagull’s Courses Department spoke about existing Onboard & Distance courses and future plans. Seagull provides onboard courses which have been approved by major Flag States as well as distance courses which lead to respective diplomas. Another important discussed topic is ECDIS equipment specific training. Seagull has signed agreements and developed E-learning modules for ECDIS training in cooperation with Simrad Maris & Consilium as well as JRC, Kelvin Hughes, Tokyo Keiki, SAM/Wartsila. Mr. Tau referred to recently released Onboard/Distance Courses such as “Cyber security”, “Incident Investigation”, revised “Ballast Water Management” &“Navigation in Ice”.

At the last session, Mr. George Hoyt, IMO Maritime Ambassador, FNI, Vice President of InterManager presented Solutions at no cost in which Shipping Companies can participate. He presented the “Global Piracy Report” for the first months of 2017 and how implementation of good practices can help against piracy. He noted how effective the connection of “Ships”, “Ports” & “People” could be through free tools such as “Adopt a ship “ & “Seafarers Mosaic”

The User Meeting closed with a cocktail reception which gave the opportunity for socializing and enjoyment by discussing/exchanging opinions on various issues of the Maritime Industry!