Fancy a life at sea?

School leavers considering a career at sea would do well to visit the New Zealand Maritime School. The Auckland-based campus delivers a range of marine industry qualifications and boasts the country’s most sophisticated training simulators.

The Maritime School is part of the Manukau Institute of Technology (MIT). Paul Harper, the School’s Executive Dean, says a rapid growth in the international cruise ship industry is fuelling a sharp rise in demand for well-qualified crew. And the demand covers the entire spectrum of ship’s crew. “It extends from the traditional hierarchy of bridge personnel – navigation officers, mates and masters – through to marine engineers overseeing a ship’s engines and her mechanical systems, to electro-technology specialists servicing the increasingly complex electronics on board ships.

“Modern cruise ships in particular,” he says, “are effectively floating hotels with all the integrated services you’d expect in a hotel – air-conditioning, sewage, water-making, navigation technology, communications and entertainment systems. Specialist skills are needed to keep them all functioning smoothly.”

The School has been running its courses for many years, but against this new, rapidly evolving background it has now added an additional programme to its curriculum. There are now three mainstream programmes: Nautical Studies, Marine Engineering and – beginning 2016 – Marine Electro-technology.

Each is a three-year programme and comprises a blend of

academic study and practical sea time, where the students are placed on ships operating all over the world. Each of the courses delivers an internationally-recognised qualification.

Nautical Studies caters to students interested in pursuing a career in the traditional ship command structure – navigation officers, mates and eventually a ship captain (master). These roles are generally confined to the bridge.

The Marine Engineering programme trains students to become watchkeeping engineer officers and eventually Chief Engineers and covers a ship’s technical and mechanical systems – everything from the operation and maintenance of the engines and their fuel systems, the water-making infrastructure through to the electricitygenerating equipment.

Marine Electro-technology – the new programme – has been specifically developed to meet the demand for electronics-savvy Electro-technology Officers on board the cruise ships.

Each of the three-year programmes is the first rung of a sea career. A typical progression sees the students employed on a vessel after graduation, and then returning to the Maritime School to tackle more advanced courses, followed by more time at sea.

It takes about nine years, says Harper, for a candidate to complete the conventional career path. “That’s from when they leave school and enter here, to when they might become – for example – a ship’s Master or a Chief Engineer.”

Graduating from the Nautical Studies programme gives a student a Second Mate’s ticket, while a Marine Engineering graduate qualifies as a Marine Engineer Class 3 – effectively a watch-keeper qualification.

Graduates joining a ship earn competitive salaries. “It varies depending on the geographic region in which the ship operates as well as the type of vessel,” says Harper, “but on average newly-qualified crew can expect to earn around $65,000 per annum.”

TUITION

It all takes place at the School’s Quay Street campus in Auckland. The kingpins of the facility are its seven training simulators. These are realistic mock-ups of a ship’s bridge, complete with a helm, radios, instrumentation and engine controls. Each is surrounded by a wrap-around “outside environment” displayed on large, high-definition screens.

With the sea and port approaches projected in real time to mimic the ship’s movement through the water, the effect is very realistic. The simulators’ software features a selection of ship types, giving students full exposure to oil tankers, container ships and cruise liners.

Just as with flight simulators which provide trainee pilots with the approaches to airports all over the world, so the simulator software hosts most major ports and their approaches, complete with navigation buoys and aids. The students in some of the images here are practising the approach to Alaska’s Prince William Sound.

Variables such as wind, rain, fog and other traffic can be programmed into the training scenarios to increase the level of complexity and delicacy of required manoeuvring. Because the simulators are all networked, students are able to practise multiple ship scenarios, with vessels leaving and entering a port simultaneously. This demands precise communication.

The School also has a dedicated “full mission” engine room simulator, again equipped with the appropriate instrumentation and controls. The engine room simulator can replicate several different ship types and propulsion systems including diesel-electric passenger vessels, tankers and container vessels. Its software can deliver multiple scenarios and “issues” for the engine room crews to solve, all while communicating with students in the bridge simulators.

A supplementary component of the marine engineering training is the facility at MIT’S main campus. It’s equipped with three large six-cylinder marine diesels, and while they are in perfect condition they are often in pieces.

As part of the training students disassemble and reassemble the engines – and success is measured by how easily the engine restarts after reassembly, and on whether there are any “orphan” nuts and bolts remaining.

PLACEMENT ON SHIPS

The School works with numerous international shipping companies to place students for practical training. Vessels cover the entire spectrum – freighters, container ships, tankers and cruise liners – and Harper says they try to accommodate a student’s vessel preference. “We compete with other countries and training schools for these spots, so it’s not always possible.”

PAID FOR PRACTICAL SEA TIME?

“Not typically, though some shipping lines do offer a training stipend. I must stress they are not obliged to pay this. Students are, however, flown to and from the vessel wherever it is in the world, provided with uniforms and of course their accommodation and food is free.”

“Variables such as wind and fog can be programmed into the scenario.”

ACCOMMODATION FOR OUT-OF-TOWN STUDENTS

While the School is a teaching facility only (it doesn’t have oncampus student accommodation) it does have an arrangement with the nearby Seafarer’s Mission and can provide out-of-town students with an apartment.

Student intake is restricted to 25 per course – 75 in total. “This limitation is mainly because of the ship placement issue – finding student positions on vessels,” says Harper. “But it’s also affected by other factors – the numbers we can put through the fire-fighting programme, for example.” The School partners with Auckland International Airport Ltd’s facility for fire training.

Because the School’s course and qualifications are delivered under the umbrella of the International Maritime Organisation,

ENTRY TO THE SCHOOL

Each of the three programmes involves a reasonable level of maths and students interested in joining the School will need NCEA Level 2 maths and/or physics as a minimum requirement. Course costs vary from about $5000 to about $7500 a year. As with all tertiary study, students qualify for government loans.

WHAT SORT OF SCHOOL LEAVER JOINS THE PROGRAMME?

“It’s impossible to be specific,” says Harper. “We have males and