Expedition cruising company Lindblad Expeditions will deploy Marine Learning Systems’ online training platform, MarineLMS, fleetwide, following a successful pilot period.
According to Marine Learning Systems, online training at sea has always been a challenge for operators due to the unique and challenging maritime operating and training context, especially in the remote locations where Lindblad Expeditions often operates. The Vancouver, B.C. based company has developed its training platform specifically for vessel operators to address the maritime context.
The MarineLMS pilot for Lindblad Expeditions involved the installation of Remote Training Servers (RTS) onto four of Lindblad Expeditions’ vessels and the delivery of company-required courses. The RTS replicates MarineLMS on-vessel and allows for training and assessment, even when there is no Internet connection. In addition to completing courses at home and onshore, Lindblad Expedition crew are now able to access the same materials and assessments in an offline environment while on-vessel using either the ship computers or their own personal devices.
With the RTS, new course content, users and updates to the on-vessel system are automatically synchronized from shore to vessel whenever Internet connectivity is possible. Meanwhile, on-vessel course progress, assessment results, and other reporting data also flow back automatically to the main system. This reduces administrative burden, gives management up-to-date reports on fleetwide training progress and effectiveness, and enables shoreside staff to easily deliver training and communications across the organization.
“This has been an incredibly long journey for us,” said Captain Arjen van der Loo, director of compliance and DPA at Lindblad Expeditions. “We started the pilot just as the pandemic was beginning so we had to put things on pause and the incredible team at Marine Learning Systems patiently waited until we were ready to basically start all over. And finally, we are now seeing the fruits of those efforts with huge engagement from our fleet.”
Murray Goldberg, founder and CEO of Marine Learning Systems, said, “While the pandemic brought many challenges to the cruise industry, Lindblad Expeditions has remained committed to improving training delivery and crew safety. We are proud to have been able to support their efforts with the implementation of their pilot training system, and we’re excited to continue to work with them as they advance their training program.”
