INTERTANKO is delighted to announce a mutual cooperation with Warsash Maritime Academy on the Tanker Officer Training Standards (TOTS) project.

INTERTANKO’s Human Element in Shipping Committee (HEiSC) is striving for the widest possible recognition of the crucial human element aspects of  running ships. It is working with the Association’s Vetting Committee on the Tanker Officer Training Standards (TOTS) project which is planned to be ready by the end of this year.

TOTS is about setting verifiable standards for ships’ officers. INTERTANKO has recognised the problems in complying with some of the existing officer matrix systems, particularly those concerning time in rank. It has therefore embarked upon Tanker Officer Training Standards (TOTS) aimed at assisting members with compliance.

Warsash Maritime Academy, owned by Southampton Solent University, provides world class training, consultancy and research for the international shipping and offshore oil industries. It is training the new generation of deck and engineer officers, at the same time as encouraging existing seafarers to develop their professional skills. Warsash has agreed to use its knowledge and resources in the development of this project, and in particular in the process of verification of the simulator aspects of TOTS. It pioneered the use of bridge, engine and cargo control room simulators for higher level training, and its manned model ship handling training facility is the only one in the United Kingdom - and one of very few in the world.

The TOTS concept is not intended to duplicate or displace something that already exists, such as the dangerous cargo endorsement. Instead it looks to complement and fit around existing statutory requirements as a voluntary system which is fully integrated with a company’s Tanker Management Self Assessment (TMSA) programme.

TOTS will go beyond training to enable ships’ officers to understand not only what they have to do and when to do it, but also the consequences of not doing what they are supposed to do. INTERTANKO believes that it will help provide a level of comfort for those oil companies that already have their own officer matrix requirements and that it will ease compliance with these requirements.

 “Warsash pioneered the first Tanker Safety courses back in the 1960’s,” comments Professor Mike Barnett of Warsash Maritime Academy, who participates in the HEiSC meetings, “so we are delighted to continue that tradition by contributing  to the development of a system we believe integrates, in a novel and cohesive way, the elements of competence management and verification, with company culture and TMSA.”

"We are immensely happy to be able to cooperate with Warsash Maritime Academy on the TOTS project,” says Capt Howard Snaith, INTERTANKO's Marine Director. “This is a huge step forward in the recognition of the TOTS system".