Mercmarine state-of-the-art navigational technology produces top merchant seafarers

With increasing development of the maritime sector and growing interest in global seafaring, Sri Lanka is grooming hundreds of young merchant seafarers to meet the demands of the industry.
As a recognised leader in producing quality seafarers for over three decades, Mercmarine Training is committed to providing training solutions to meet the needs of the maritime industry. 
Mecmarine Training is also Sri Lanka’s first merchant seafarer training institute whose success is greatly attributed to genuine passion for the industry and in providing the right environment and tools to make learning a better experience.
‘‘Ninety percent of today’s global trade is conducted via sea routes. Technological advancement has been crucial for this sector. At the core of our success has been Mercmarine Training’s ability to keep pace with advances in ship technology and offer the most innovative training solutions in the maritime industry,” said Captain Mayura Ranatunga, an experienced lecturer at the Mercmarine Training Institute.  
Citing an example, Captain Ranatunga noted the ship navigation’s transition from time honoured paper navigation charts to digital navigation systems. Whereby according to International Maritime Organisation’s (IMO) 2010 regulations, Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) became mandatory technology for commercial ships under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).
‘‘At Mercmarine Training we anticipated this change when we first implemented our state-of-the- art navigation simulators for our students.  Our latest simulator system meets the demanding international requirements and standards. Our unique approach allows students to practice and gain confidence using actual controls and displays of the system,’’ he said.
Simulation training at Mercmarine Training is targeted at enhancing the competency of trainee cadets by familiarizing them with modern equipment fitted onboard ships. Students can apply theoretical concepts to demonstrate their practicality. 
Performance on simulators are recorded and played back to the trainees for analysis, providing feedback and or identifying gaps and correcting mistakes thus ensuring a complete transfer of knowledge.
Mercmarine Training simulators are programmed with multiple ship models for training the students and can also offer type specific ECDIS training for the world’s leading systems such as Transas, Furuno and JRC. 
Additionally, the navigation simulator system used at Mercmarine Training complies with Sri Lankan administration requirements for seafarers training (Merchant Shipping Secretariat) and is approved by Det Norske Veritas (DNV),an international classification society for the maritime industry.
Mercmarine Training’s lecture panel consists of some of the industry’s most experienced professionals skilled in seamanship who take pride in sharing and presenting their knowledgeusing the most technologically advanced equipment.
The institute is the ideal new technologically advanced training center to help prospective seafarers apply their acquired skills to the real-world challenges of the marine environment.