AdMare Ship Management (ASM) is a rare gem in the maritime industry with a highly experienced 300-strong crew, some of whom have been with them for 26 years.
AdMare Ship Management provides ship management services from an Owner’s perspective, giving priority to Safety, the Environment, Preventive Maintenance, Cost Control and Flawless Operation. Needless to say, training is important to their success, and a generational shift in their long-standing traditional workforce (in a notoriously traditional industry) means it is more important today than ever.
ASM has been with Seably since 2020. Their Head Office is progressive and they have approached any training beyond compliance with a ‘growth mindset’ for their seafarers. Encouraging them with ‘nice-to-have’ training, rather than demanding more with an ever-increasing list of ‘must-have’ requirements.
Every Seafarer has access to Seably and all of our courses on and offline.
Traditional Attitudes to Maritime Training
Some of the long-standing Captains, who might be older and hold more traditional attitudes, haven’t necessarily been keen to embrace digital training. But the generational shift has seen things change and the younger, recently promoted captains are coming aboard with fresh ideas, a desire to learn and a more solutions-orientated holistic approach to training.
“The new mentality is much more about how to build a team, working together to improve productivity and safety.” Says Hanna Mahaffey, Crew Manager at ASM.
With this in mind, her hope is that the new generation of seafarers and captains will embrace Seably’s digital training platform as an integral part of their day-to-day role, a tool to be used on the go, on land or at sea for problem-solving.
We were thrilled to hear that Hanna had seen this work first-hand when one of the younger Captains noticed there were challenges with communication on the bridge. For the bridge team, it is vitally important that they have the same overall picture of events, to be able to question or challenge a decision should a member of the team lose situational awareness. Any problems with communication could negatively impact the safe navigation of the vessel with dramatic effect.
The Captain felt pulling rank to ‘demand’ change would only provide a quick fix, and the communication problem ran far deeper. He wanted the team to work together to find a solution to solve their issues.
He assigned each member of his team the Bridge Resource Management Course to complete before their weekly meeting. The result was that when they next met it prompted a discussion on how they could work better as a team and raised questions about what they could improve and ideas they could try instead.
Needless to say, Hanna was delighted to hear of best practices being used, with the team fully embracing training on board from their phones to overcome challenges as and when they happen. “The requirements of each vessel are different, so empowering Captains to manage their crew's training, mixing digital training with drills and discussion, is the best way to deliver effective training that lasts.” Says Hanna, “Not to mention the best way to build a strong and productive team and retain and develop new staff.”
AdMare Ship Managements relationship with Seably has been long and rewarding
In terms of working with Seably, the relationship has been long and rewarding, with ASM growing with us from day 1. They have recently integrated a Cloud Fleet Management (CFM) system into Seably, which will streamline the process of keeping on top of the database and certifications more easily. We have also recently provided them with a new training matrix to standardise and speed up the process of assigning courses and help keep on top of the training requirements for the new recruits, as well as provide a clear path of career progression for those that want it.
In the coming months, there will be more emphasis on encouraging softer skills training, such as team building, conflict management, healthy cooking for the chefs and practical skills for helping the crew feel fitter, happier and healthier too. As well as this, ASM is planning to work with our content team to design their own familiarisation course for new employees.
It looks like blue skies on the horizon, and as Hanna said, “Shipping has been working in the same way for a long time, so it's good to try and find a new way of doing things”.
We couldn’t agree more!
