BMT Launches Search and Rescue (SAR) Training Drive

BMT Cordah Ltd - a subsidiary of BMT Ltd - is set to become the first UK private sector company to offer a Maritime Search Planning (SP) training course to advise the industry and public funded SAR organisations on how to cope with real life SAR scenarios.

The first, five day, training course, which will be held from the 19th February is already oversubscribed with delegates attending from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Royal Danish Navy and the Belgian Air Force, amongst others.

BMT draws upon over ten years' experience in the SAR market as well as over eighteen years' service with the UK Coastguard.

The course will use BMT's own highly successful software package, the Search and Rescue Information System (SARIS), to provide expertise on strategy, planning and competence by working through a mixture of practical and theoretical exercises.

SARIS was developed in 1996 in conjunction with the MCA to enable the drift modeling of vessels, objects and survivors at sea following a maritime accident. The software is in use around the world by organisations ranging from the Royal Navy to the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC).

The first BMT training programme will focus on Search Planning, and future modules will address the other seven identified SAR competence areas (SAR Mission Co-ordinator, On Scene Co-ordinator, Chart Work, Navigation, General Maritime, SAR Administration and Organisation, and GMDSS Coast Station Operations).

The programme also features IAMSAR best practice and IMO model course material and offers refresher training to help ensure competence is kept at the highest level over time.

The sessions are delivered by SAR operations experts who have been trained to the UK National Training standard and are designed to help trainees understand the concepts behind search planning methodology rather than simply an education in SAR systems.

BMT will help enable students to assume greater responsibility over their choice of SARIS input data in order to properly understand the processes involved in Search and Rescue missions.

BMT proposes to undertake two courses each year in the UK and is currently exploring the possibility of joining forces with colleges overseas to implement regional training initiatives internationally.

Tim Parker, head of Marine Systems Business Development at BMT Cordah says: "Changes in the industry as a result of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and international security concerns mean that organisations have a responsibility to ensure their search and rescue procedures are fully adept to respond efficiently to any SAR situation.

"BMT Cordah has the expertise to identify and promote SAR best practice and help businesses enhance their capabilities in this field whilst maintaining their regulatory obligations."

BMT has already had great success with its SAR campaign in the United Arab Emirates, winning a contract to advise and support the Abu Dhabi Emergency Support Organisation (ADESCO).

BMT will also provide ADESCO with a plan outlining guidelines for offshore oil and gas companies for use in the event of a SAR incident. The plan, to be delivered by the end of February, assesses the local organisational culture and make up of the SAR process and compares the company's existing procedure against international and UK practices.

BMT Cordah Ltd - a subsidiary of BMT Ltd - is set to become the first UK private sector company to offer a Maritime Search Planning (SP) training course to advise the industry and public funded SAR organisations on how to cope with real life SAR scenarios.

The first, five day, training course, which will be held from the 19th February is already oversubscribed with delegates attending from the UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the Royal Danish Navy and the Belgian Air Force, amongst others.

BMT draws upon over ten years' experience in the SAR market as well as over eighteen years' service with the UK Coastguard.

The course will use BMT's own highly successful software package, the Search and Rescue Information System (SARIS), to provide expertise on strategy, planning and competence by working through a mixture of practical and theoretical exercises.

SARIS was developed in 1996 in conjunction with the MCA to enable the drift modeling of vessels, objects and survivors at sea following a maritime accident. The software is in use around the world by organisations ranging from the Royal Navy to the Hong Kong Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Center (MRCC).

The first BMT training programme will focus on Search Planning, and future modules will address the other seven identified SAR competence areas (SAR Mission Co-ordinator, On Scene Co-ordinator, Chart Work, Navigation, General Maritime, SAR Administration and Organisation, and GMDSS Coast Station Operations).

The programme also features IAMSAR best practice and IMO model course material and offers refresher training to help ensure competence is kept at the highest level over time.

The sessions are delivered by SAR operations experts who have been trained to the UK National Training standard and are designed to help trainees understand the concepts behind search planning methodology rather than simply an education in SAR systems.

BMT will help enable students to assume greater responsibility over their choice of SARIS input data in order to properly understand the processes involved in Search and Rescue missions.

BMT proposes to undertake two courses each year in the UK and is currently exploring the possibility of joining forces with colleges overseas to implement regional training initiatives internationally.

Tim Parker, head of Marine Systems Business Development at BMT Cordah says: "Changes in the industry as a result of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns and international security concerns mean that organisations have a responsibility to ensure their search and rescue procedures are fully adept to respond efficiently to any SAR situation.

"BMT Cordah has the expertise to identify and promote SAR best practice and help businesses enhance their capabilities in this field whilst maintaining their regulatory obligations."

BMT has already had great success with its SAR campaign in the United Arab Emirates, winning a contract to advise and support the Abu Dhabi Emergency Support Organisation (ADESCO).

BMT will also provide ADESCO with a plan outlining guidelines for offshore oil and gas companies for use in the event of a SAR incident. The plan, to be delivered by the end of February, assesses the local organisational culture and make up of the SAR process and compares the company's existing procedure against international and UK practices.