Maritime Professionals, Oil and Gas Workers Applaud Academy

Just when you think you have heard it all and seen it all at the Maritime Academy of Nigeria, MAN, from victory to victory seems to be the story in recent years even as maritime stakeholders continue to marvel at the uncommon transformation, restructuring and repositioning taking place at the Academy.

Specifically, impeccable sources at the Academy has hinted that weeks after the arrival and installation of its built for purpose Simulators, the school is set to receive its Helicopter Underwater Escape Training Equipment, HUET.

Speaking exclusively with us on the development, Rector of the Academy, Commodore Duja Emmanuel Effedua (rtd), said that the Helicopter Underwater Escape Training Equipment will arrive the country soon.

In his words, “It is part of our resolve to put the Academy on the world map and make it competitive and attractive. We are not looking at Nigeria only but the entire West African Sub Region. The Nigerian Maritime Industry is set for a revolution in terms of professionalism and cutting edge expertise which will come from the trainings we provide”

Already, we are reliably informed that a new swimming pool has been constructed for the Helicopter Survival Training.

Maritime Experts who spoke on the development hailed the initiative by the Rector and his team, describing it as the Spectrum of Oil and Gas Training in Nigeria.

According to an authoritative source, the Helicopter Survival Training is a must for Oil and Gas Workers in Nigeria and other countries in the world.

We gathered that the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, insists on such certification before Oil and Gas worker are allowed offshores-making the training expensive and not readily affordable by Nigerians.

The Rector of MAN disclosed that the Academy intends to bring down the training cost and make it available to all Nigerians who desire such training to enhance their professional competence.

According to him “The Academy is a national training institution and as such our mission is to train Nigerians at affordable cost. We shall neither under charge nor over charge but our charges, as they have always been, shall be competitive and affordable. The Academy has a national mandate. The ongoing restructuring effort is to reposition the Academy and make it strong and efficient in the discharge of its training mandate for the Maritime and Oil and Gas sectors of the Economy”

We are unclear on the availability of the Helicopter Survival Training Equipment in Nigeria, what we are definite about is the training edge the Academy is offering to the Nigerian Maritime industry and its multiplier effect.

We gather that the HUET training program prepares offshore workers that intend to travel to and fro offshore oil and gas installations and vessels by helicopter in coastal/swampy environments by providing specific training in pre-flight and in-flight requirements.

The training prepares such workers with the basic emergency response knowledge and skills required in the event of a helicopter emergency –with specific focus on escaping from a helicopter following ditching and sea survival techniques.

According to maritime professionals, the training takes place in a purpose-built swimming pool. Offshore workers are trained in what is called a dunker.

A huet training session

Industry sources have it that the dunker is a Helicopter Simulator that can be submerged in water. It can rotate 180 degrees on either side to prepare candidates on how to safely escape from crashed helicopter.

Recall that the Academy launched its Multi-Functional Classroom Simulator recently even as engineers have completed work on the Full Mission Bridge and Full mission Engine room simulators at the Academy-putting the Academy in a position of regional superiority in Maritime Education and Training, MET, in the West African Sub region.

He declared that the simulators are modern, brand new equipment which will provide huge opportunities for manpower development for Nigeria’s Maritime and Oil and Gas industries.

“The Maritime industry, the Oil and Gas sector have a lot to gain from these modern equipment we are bringing to the Academy for the country. Refresher courses are now more than ever before available on a higher, improved scale and because we are concerned about the entire country, we shall be open to discussions with other schools which want to take advantage of our equipment to improve on their training for the good of the country”, Effedua reiterates.