Local Company Granted UK Maritime Safety Training Recognition

Bandar Seri Begawan - With effect from December 18, 2006, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) in the United Kingdom (UK) granted recognition of four pre-sea Basic Safety Training courses, namely Personal Survival Techniques (PST), Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting (FPFF), Elementary First Aid (EFA) and Personal Safety and Social Responsibilities (PSSR), that are currently being conducted by Megamas Training Company Sdn Bhd in Brunei Darussalam, based on approval initially granted by the Marine Department, a press release stated.

The MCA is responsible throughout the UK for implementing the British government's maritime safety policy. This includes coordinating search and rescue operations at sea through Her Majesty's Coastguard and ensuring the ships meet UK and international safety rules. The agency works to prevent the loss of lives at the coast and at sea, to ensure that ships are safe, and to prevent coastal pollution.

This effectively means that any seafarer - particularly cadets freshly recruited by Brunei Gas Carriers (BGC) Sdn Bhd - undertaking such courses at Megamas may continue their studies or further their training in the UK without having to repeat the same courses in UK maritime training institutions.

The EFA course is conducted at Megamas in collaboration with the Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa'adatul Bolkiah College of Nursing, while the PSSR is carried out with assistance from the Mechanical and Marine Engineering Section of the Jefri Bolkiah College of Engineering.

The Marine Department's approval was initially gained by Megamas on February 4, 2003. To date, Megamas has conducted 18 such courses with a total of 223 trainees having successfully completed them before proceeding to serve on board vessels. It is to Megamas's credit and proof of the Marine Department's professionalism that such recognition was granted based on Brunei Darussalam being in the International Maritime Organisation's "White List".

To this end, Megamas recognises the excellent facilitation provided by the Marine Department in assisting it to gain international acceptance of the standards maintained in conducting such maritime training courses. It aspires to gain similar recognition from the MCA for other courses that it are currently being conducted or are to be conducted in future in Brunei Darussalam. -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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