<< Background >>It has been further challenging in the recent years to catch an on-the-job experience for new starters and those who are on the profession to progress their ranks, due to pandemic, changes in technology, faster promotions and reduced sea-time requirements. There are also many barriers to the easy transfer of experiential knowledge, including language and culture, and yet there is the ever-lasting problem of pressure of work and lack of time (Acar, 2017). Moreover, the recent EU statistics indicates that average working time of a seafarer at sea is 4.8 years therefore it is essential that the seafarers need to be linked with shore based responsibilities that they can contribute and develop in maritime sector with the valuable experience they attain during the course of their time at sea (SAILAHED, 2011- 2013).The European shipping industry now faces fierce competition from the Far East, and a shortage of only officers across the world will be 147,500 by 2025 (BIMCO, 2015). Majority of this shortage will be in Europe although existing sea staff working in Europe are usually from far east. For the waterborne sector to remain competitive, the quality of European standards must not be allowed to fall. The project consortium believes that by raising standards in the field of European VET, and providing institutions with tools to improve the quality of the education that they provide, the employability and mobility of European seafarers will be increased. SEA MENTORS will promote competencies specified to these standards, and some lead to internationally recognised qualifications.On the other hand, maritime industry has a tradition of learning from others on-board; however, on-board community is small and sometimes highly variable in timing and composition. Furthermore, on-board career progress opportunities do not occur until the mariner is actually having real time experience. The world needs competent seafarers and the availability of a welcoming community where connections can be made and answers can be found will contribute to the fulfilment of that goal. Hence, there is a real need for the new generation of seafarers to be guided so they acquire the skills and competence that instruction in colleges cannot deliver.Researches establish that a contributory factor to the increase in accidents is that experiential knowledge (knowledge gained from professional, ‘on the job’ experiences and reflected upon) is not being passed from senior to junior on-board many merchant vessels, in the traditional way that it used to be, by mentoring. Marine accidents and incidents do continue to occur due to a lack of experiential knowledge transferred. Experiential knowledge is not something tangible, nor is it a subject that can be taught in college, although the concept should be addressed and the candidates encouraged to participate in experiential knowledge transfer. There are variety of reasons why transfer of experiential knowledge is difficult to be transferred from one to another is one is the lack of time for informal training which is due to ships and long working hours prevents mentors to take time off their busy schedule and take personal interest in training of juniors.<< Objectives >>SEA MENTORS platform and its tool will enable a platform to enable knowledge transfers between seafarers in various ranks which directly adapts vocational education and training to labour market needs, and contributing to innovation in vocational education and training. Initially, SEA MENTORS will disseminate and transfer the innovative practices developed within the partnership, across Europe and internationally. SEA MENTORS will support development of VET programmes that offer a balanced mix of vocational skills and create work-based learning opportunities which are evolving jobs and working methods and key competences. It will foster the development of programme that offers and qualifications which are regularly updated, building on skills intelligence. Projects will support VET providers in the adaptation of their training offer to changing skills needs in the maritime sector.The project will develop a program considering different rank of seafarers, taking into account the experience they attained in each vessel. The experiential knowledge will have phases to pass it to seafarers working on different levels of command. SEA MENTORS project aims to:- Identify the level of “experiential knowledge” each ranks have in a questionnaire based needs analysis and information based on the investigation of undiscovered areas,- Develop an online Training programme for each ranks therefore they can access to this experiential knowledge which incorporates latest developments in the maritime sector- Design a guidance Tool that provides the user with a certificate for the newly acquired skills based on experiential knowledge.<< Implementation >>Project will have two main outputs and partners will work towards producing these:1) Intellectual Outputs 1 - SEA MENTORS Training Platform and 2) Intellectual Outputs 2 - SEA MENTORS Guidance Tool), Apart from these activities that will be carried out are as titled below:- Management plan - Press releases - Development and distribution of Newsletter - Dissemination Materials - End of Project Brochure - Social medias- Designing, translating and printing of project flyers - Constant disseminating of information about the project - Project website<< Results >>The Platform and guidance tool will have options to select knowledge that users would wish to attain on different levels of ranks. The platform offered by the SEA MENTOR Training Programme will have a direct impact on seafarers by giving them experiential knowledge leading to enhanced competence and decision making. The seafarers will have better skills and knowledge to understand and interpret the given situations.The main tangible outcome is an online and novel learning and assessment platform covering all aspects of advanced technology. This will facilitate the inclusion of the identified new skills in existing maritime programmes and facilitate the experiential knowledge transfer which is expected to lead to a reduction in the number of accidents at sea.SEA MENTORS platform will:•facilitate “Experiential Knowledge“ transfer between senior and junior seafarers•be customised depending on the needs of seafarers•incorporate a database of “Experiential Knowledge” from the users•be based on providing the best advice on career advancement as well as specific guides•offer a certification service for the user to assess their experiential knowledge and skills acquired from the course.The partners will provide functional learning and skills to their seafarers as well as their students. Operators involved in the provision of maritime transport services and the European maritime transport, will be embracing the platform in the short term and thus making the seas safer, which is expected to enable shipping companies to become more competitive. Where millions of sea passengers a year travelling through European ports, passenger ships and ferry services, the course will have a direct impact on safety of passengers and quality of life of citizens at sea.The partners have a clear vision for developing SEA MENTORS platform and tolls in their countries and throughout Europe. MARITIME INNOVATORS, together with other partners in this proposal and others, established maritime education partnerships and networks to improve education and training practices in Europe, and go about the harmonisation of merchant navy officers education. Partners networks have instigated several European and EU Funded projects to address specific deficiencies or problems in the maritime sector. SEA MENTORS embraces these principals, and will support the development strategies that are already in place. The extensive knowledge base generated by partnerships working on maritime projects will be shared with the awarding, accrediting, and licensing bodies as well as the policy decision makers in governments and in the EU. The EU has supported many VET initiatives and research, and it is hoped that with their continued support, the SEA MENTORS consortium can extend its ability to address the needs of education within VET sector. With successful dissemination activities within the project, other EU countries will achieve similar benefits complying with EU's Maritime Transport Agenda. Therefore, it will have a positive impact on maritime seaborne transportation within the EU.

"<< Background >>The project mission has aiming to meet the dynamic needs of the stakeholders including students, industry and society, in parallel with the changing professional realities of the modern world from the maritime education sector, by developing a harmonized framework for teaching and research practices within the European Maritime Training and Education system, relying upon academic expertise exchange in learning by simulation methods, with an emphasis on valuing the regional partners potential for education and research, using in joint the simulator facilities and digital learning resources. The project would promote the knowledge transfer between the European Union regions, seeking to build a knowledge “bridge” between the Black Sea and Baltic Sea in areas of education and training, as follow up of previous implemented projects of the partners. The project address to the needs of complying with the STCW 95 requirement in training for partner institutions based on an enhanced future competitiveness, bringing the teaching and learning strategies on a new updated level of digitization. The project will offer an inter-regional joint framework in simulation learning system in maritime education, valuing the potential of developing skills, abilities and responsibilities of the graduates, to stimulate their insertion in the maritime international labor market. By this project, the partners will be granted with access to a larger base of educational resources and training facilities in order to share the networking expertise alongside the European space, increasing their competitiveness as international MET providers. Subsidiary the project is aiming to the need of the job market, for bringing the teaching methods in the new era of digitalization, building new and innovative video tutorials and digital training materials for simulator facilities, to offer full access in time and space for educational processes. In case of the targeted maritime students, blended learning methods and the digital tools will be applied, for enhancing the independence and autonomy of the students, for carrying out the learning process both in the classrooms but also onboard commercial vessels for cadetship. The simulating facility network will also promote harmonized courses that use simulators as: ship handling and maneuvering, engine room operation, cargo handling, safe and rescue or naval communications. Not in the last, the need for internationalization is also to be covered by offering a broad range of cooperation, valuing previous projects results.<< Objectives >>MARS-NET will aim to achieve a strategic network for joint partners' facilities and teaching/learning practices exchange, seeking to obtain by implementation such significant results on following directions:- training skills improvement of the trainers, by good practices exchanges on different simulators offered by the partners, implementing a digital teaching framework for hard skills achievement - harmonized methodology for training resources to be achieved (see the model attached: ""Meodologie_scenarii_training_simulator.pdf"");- dual education enhancement by developing the cadets’ abilities for online training on simulator facilities, using the digital resources in their training, onboard the ships during the cadetship - adaptation of present syllabuses and simulation exercises;- building teaching resources for simulating exercises to digitize the teaching and training environment as a valuable supporting feature for “blending learning” methods enhancement, including a manu (see the attachment: ""Manual_tutoriale_video simulator_ANMB.pdf"");- implementing harmonized training modules in order to value the partners’ experience, facilities and good practices into the network (with an emphasis on the particular aspects of the targeted regions), continuing previous strategic partnership projects as DECOMAR, MARINE, MENTORESS or BLUE4SEAS (see the attachment: ""Simulation curriculum model.pdf"");- institutional internationalization will be stimulated by organizing different meetings and dissemination events, where the achieved results will be disseminated and shared;- the academic and training exchanges between the Baltic Sea region and the South-Eastern area of Europe will be very much stimulated, contributing for harmonization of the training practices, connecting the training facilities in a common network to be jointly valued by the partners;- new research methods and research areas of knowledge will be identify, where the simulators to be involved and valued on competitive basis, within the agreed partnership;- the partners will exchange expertise in designing virtual environment and simulation scenarios for navigation and engine room onboard the ships, on simulators, using the partners software and hardware.<< Implementation >>In the relation with the specified intellectual outputs, various activities will be conducted among the partners:- curriculum development and harmonization according to IMO STCW rules and regulations, - innovative training programs will be implemented on sustainable basis, based on modern teaching methods by simulation and further good practices will be exchanged;- updated training and learning material development will be available for a large pool of students/teachers, implementing a joint virtual campus,- exchanges activities will be organized stimulating the internationalization across the EU,- research activities will be conducted.Overall 5 common face-to-face courses will be organized by each partner alternatively in each country, using and valuing the simulating facilities of the partners in area of navigation, marine engineering, logistics or research. The virtual campus will generate a larger participation of beneficiaries. Moreover, to disseminate the results and the project conclusions, 5 conferences will be organized, to achieve a larger impact in soundness and to attract stakeholder and potential beneficiaries into the network. The courses and the conference will be financed from the budget, in accordance with the participant number, distances and days of attendance, in compliance with Erasmus+ financial rules.Along with MARS-NET project implementation, the partners' representatives have scheduled 5 project meetings, one per each quarter of project implementation.<< Results >>The project is mainly focused on building an efficient and effective educational network among a large pool of partners, with regional soundness, to value the simulation facilities for adopting innovative teaching and learning practices, as a definitive step toward the digitization of maritime higher education system. Subsequently, other objectives are aimed as to get competitive advantages from the good practices exchange and knowledge sharing within the network, in regard of improving the teaching skills and simulation learning methods, in respect of an updated alignment to the new tendencies in education and training processes around the European Union, providing a solid support forexcellence in teaching and skills development processes. In this respect, the partners will conduct specific activities to produce 5 wider intellectual outputs, defined under a quantitative perspective (i.e. work days for manpower on categories of personnel), as following:- O1: “Building the updated pool of competencies for maritime education to improve the value of simulating facilities in maritime education”: 10 course syllabuses will be harmonized to value the simulation learning methods on hard and soft skills requirements, in order to align the MET curriculum to the newest STCW standards for preparing a virtual exchange program for students and teachers;- O2: “Digital media tools to enhance the simulating teaching efficiency in maritime education” – the guidance framework will be issued, together with the summary design of most 5 relevant courses in which simulation facilities and majorly used, further selected for a “digital” detailed preparation;- O3: “Virtual digital campus for teachers, researchers and students” – a virtual network developed as a “virtual campus” will be developed for sharing the didactic materials and the digital resources, for simulating learning environment courses and classes (www.marplat.eu);- O4: “Joint scientific research partnership for building a more efficient and effective teaching and learning environment based on simulation facilities” – technical solutions for integrating the simulator within an operational network will be identified, where the students can freely access the training resources, even from onboard the ships;- O5: “Virtual webinars tools to enhance the digitization of learning materials in Maritime Higher Education” - an overall number of 250 students and 20 teachers will be virtually enrolled in digital classes, to support the developing of the digital content materials. The methodology of building the teaching materials drafted on O2 will be fulfilled, recording the online monitored web-seminars sessions, delivered in video-conference system, to the students from cadetship or from different campuses. As result of O5, the partners will make available 5 digital courses, fully covered with harmonized curriculum (O1), teaching materials (O2) and online available resources (O3), providing the hard skills for maritime providing the hard skills for maritime higher education students, in virtual manner to stimulate the cadetship dual system programs, the virtual mobility of international students and the digitization of simulating classes. Beside the intellectual outputs, 5 common face-to-face courses will be organized by each partner alternatively in each country, for a total of 30 students and 30 teachers, using and valuing the simulating facilities of the partners in area of navigation, marine engineering, logistics or research. The virtual campus will generate a larger participation of beneficiaries. To disseminate the results and the project conclusions, 5 conferences will be organized, to achieve a larger impact in soundness and to attract stakeholder and potential beneficiaries into the network."

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) have been promoting “Safety Culture” for the last decade with a great deal of emphasis on human elements, particularly how human errors have led to great loss of life and property (IMO, 2013). It has also been acknowledged that similar accidents/incident occur with repeatedly as human error is proven to be the main cause. Learning from accidents/incidents are one of the good practise that IMO promotes hence it has not been taken into consideration in training seafarers and industry would benefit from a training tool and programme for its sea-going staff (ACAR, 2011).This project concerns an innovation development from existing data on accidents/incidents for the creation of a range of scenarios in order to create “Safety Culture” for the education and training of seafarers. The intention of this project is to develop experimental knowledge in order to training seafarers via learning from past accidents and incidents. The project will break these accidents and incidents into several categories preparing a knowledge-base of the selected scenarios, simulate them in online using advanced bridge as well as integrated and full-mission simulators, and train seafarers working on board vessels. The main aims and objectives are:- To improve safety at sea and at ports by facilitating experimental knowledge and create a knowledge-base of scenarios for training of seafarers - To develop intelligent exercises based on scenarios created for application in bridge as well as in the full mission simulators- To assess the learning of users via scenarios developedThe partnership is composed of six major education and training centres, private companies, universities in several EU countries supported by their awarding, accrediting and/or certificating authorities. The main tangible outcome is transfer of knowledge from The main intangible outcome is that knowledge needed for example by seafarers on board a vessel to recognise and tackle similar accidents/incidents to be avoided as well as investigating various national and international databases for identification of scenarios and their preparation for inclusion in the existing MET programmes and for the training of seafarers working at sea. The impact will be substantial since this project is intended to introduce innovative training and assessment tools to embed into experimental knowledge in MET programmes.

"The 2014 Communication ""Innovation in the Blue Economy” recognizes the lack of skilled workforce knowledgeable in the latest technologies and a range of other disciplines, as a challenge and hindering factor of blue economy. Alike, the New Skills Agenda for Europe confirms same status and suggests taking action for the improvement of the quality and relevance of training for obtaining the necessary skills. A challenge met across blue economy is the poor image of the activities among young and the lack of information in respect to career opportunities, which in combination with the ageing trend of European population may generate lack of qualified personnel.Maritime schools face several challenges in preparing students to meet workplace demands in an increasingly complex, knowledge and technology-based environment while lacking generic skills that are requested by employers, such as critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, communication and teamwork. In this context iSOL-MET aims to:-Bridge the gap between shipping world requirements in respect to human resources soft skills and competences, through developing innovative educational material based on the case study methodology-Bridge the needs of maritime professionals for ongoing career opportunities even after completing their sea service on board-Bridge the experience gap of maritime universities’ students in respect to the on-board operations and the shipping practices.-Exchange best practices and cultural awareness on maritime education and shipping issues.Project addresses the needs of the students for obtaining the required skills for entering the shipping market and provides to educators new educational tools. Furthermore, addresses the needs of the shipping industry for qualified personnel.To achieve the aforementioned objective iSOL-MET will produce:1.Maritime skills courses for multidisciplinary and multicultural groups of students: a comprehensive course program that will integrate International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) model course guidelines, practice-oriented, to link theory and practice through using maritime case studies, for cultivating specific soft skills2.Maritime Case Study Handbook: a collection of all case studies identified and analyzed during project’ life time. Case studies will be identified in close collaboration with the industry and will constitute an integrated educational material, designed to address current soft skills gaps, while providing to the educators with useful material in respect to the content and the teaching methods3.Guidelines for the development of soft skills educational material: a practical set of recommendations to course designers in developing, conducting and evaluating a course focusing on soft skills using cases studies.4.Soft skills evaluation tools: a set of tools that an educator or a manager can use for evaluating the soft skills competences of students or employees. The aim is the creation of an Assessment Center for systematizing the process of soft skills evaluation, through case studies.. Assessment Center will link the academia with the business world since, the case studies developed in combination with designed assessment tools could be used in the shipping industry for assessing the competences of existing employees or for recruitment reasons. Through iSOL-MET is expected to:•Enhance the quality and relevance of the learning offer in maritime education through developing innovative educational material, using the case study methodology •Help students recognize and adopt ""growth"" mindset, meaning that their capacities are expandable. Students' mindset shifting is expected to affect their performance and motivation. •Develop competency and knowledge sharing, through mobilizing the maritime skills across participating countries.•Meet the demand of highly skilled maritime professionals and enhancing youth employment possibilities•Improve the attractiveness of the maritime profession and remedying to the observed lack of articulated educational proposition for sea-related activities, by adapting the courses content to the new maritime environment and emerging trends of the industry•Bundle forces from intergovernmental organizations, research institutes and the shipping industry to provide innovative skills for marine business•Promote and support networks connecting education and training organisations in EU level and encourage opportunities of cluster academia cooperation.•Change the professors’ mentality about teaching techniques helping them to improve their effectiveness and the quality of their teaching method."

<< Objectives >>In this study, steam engine, steam turbine, internal combustion engine, gas turbine, heat exchangers, transfer and circulation systems, cleaning and filtering systems, navigation will be ensured in order to be prepared to cover the issues of maneuvering assist systems that is included an engine room simulation. The common need of our participating institutions; is to eliminate the deficiencies of maritime field ship machinery vocational training in distance education.<< Implementation >>A real-time interactive laboratory simulation program will be developed by our project partners. This program includes application simulation, theories, procedures, and areas where student observations can be noted. The simulation will include common workshop materials. The teacher will design the process and theory related to the application to the places allocated in the program. Students will be able to follow these process steps and perform the application interactively.<< Results >>With the digital training contents to be created in the field of ship machinery of the maritime industry, the sustainability of vocational education in distance education models will be ensured, coaching support will be provided, an interactive environment such as in-class experiments and applied projects will be created, success will be increased with individual monitoring, and a student-centered education process in distance vocational education will be provided.