Empowering the Merchant Navy Community: The MNTB

There are various training authorities that provide excellent maritime training to interested individuals across the globe. United Kingdom’s Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) is one such marine training authority, which is known for its excellence training services.

The fundamental marine training authority in the whole of the United Kingdom, MNTB has nearly 75 years of experience in the field and was instituted by the Chambers of Shipping to function as a volunteer organisation providing the requisite services.

Empowering the Merchant Navy Community

The organisation however does not provide merchant navy training by itself. It offers distinct learning models that are widely accepted and incorporated by institutes catering to the merchant navy aspirants. At present the merchant navy courses’ model offered by the Board includes:

A Foundation Course incorporating the Scottish Professional Diploma (SPD)
A Higher National Certificate course
A Higher National Diploma course

In addition to the models provided for merchant navy courses, the one-of-its-kind marine college also institutes specific courses’ models for maritime professionals like engineers and other technical personnel. The Board also offers a structured guidance program to shipping conglomerates about training programs offered to interested individuals by them.

The education models for the purpose of training sailors are designed in compliance with the rules and regulations of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

In addition to the meeting of the IMO stipulations, the education models are detailed with pertinent relevance to the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Convention.

Since maritime professionals like engineers, watch-keeping officers on deck and officers holding technical positions in a ship need to display their proficiency, the Board has also devised the TRB – Training Record Books. The professionals need to fulfil the responsibilities outlined in the TRB, thereby providing veritable proof about their proficiency to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

The Board works in close co-ordination with international shipping conglomerates, government shipping authorities and other parties who have vested interests in the international maritime sector.

MNTB also undertakes and oversees many maritime projects in order to enhance the qualitative aspect of maritime training provided to individuals. The most recently concluded project of the Board was the NOS – the National Occupational Standards which dealt with the aspect of passenger occupancy aboard a vessel.

The marine college also provides a mentoring program by enlisting the aid of the alumni community of the merchant navy, currently working professionals in the merchant navy and shipping conglomerates.Known as the Careers of Sea Ambassadors, the mentoring program is a voluntarily run program that endeavors to provide a better idea and perspective about the maritime industry at large. The mentoring program of the MNTB is a widely acclaimed program garnering immense recognition across the United Kingdom.

In order to keep interested individuals abreast about the latest happenings, a newsletter is published by the Board bi-annually. Alongside this publishing, the Board also maintains an interactive forum through which queries of individuals interested merchant navy training are attempted to be solved.

The Merchant Navy Training Board has contributed more than substantially to its objective of promotion of merchant navy careers in the United Kingdom. The constant strive to enhance the calibre of maritime industry by making it more flexile in terms of training quality and through environmental viability, accentuates the import of the organisation immensely.

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