Course Criteria for Navigation Aids and Equipment Simulator Training (3rd, 2022)

This publication has been written for personnel who design and deliver training programmes. It covers the requirements for Navigation Aids and Equipment Simulator Training (NAEST) Operational and Management certification, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) training, and Small Ships Navigation and Radar training, set out in Chapter II of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978, as amended, and corresponding sections of the STCW Code. The specifications in this publication have been developed by the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) in conjunction with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

This publication identifies the course criteria for navigational aids and equipment simulator training and the learning objectives to be covered when designing training courses. It provides guidance on drawing up training plans, the equipment required for the course, simulator exercises to meet course objectives, assessment requirements, certification, and qualification of instructors and assessors.

Within training programmes, evidence of candidates’ competence in the safe use of shipboard navigational aids and equipment must be obtained from approved simulator training. The MNTB believes that this is best undertaken in conjunction with complementary training in navigation, human element, leadership and management, and the principles to be observed in keeping a safe navigational watch. The purpose of this publication is to guide those designing and delivering training programmes as to how this can be achieved.

This publication covers:

• NAEST Operational – to give candidates the essential education and training in the skills needed to keep a safe navigational watch and to use radar, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA), Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), echo sounders, Bridge Navigation Watch Alarm Systems (BNWAS), voyage data recorders (VDRs) and other electronic aids to maintain safety of navigation

• NAEST Management – to give candidates the essential education and training to maintain safe navigation using radar, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA), Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS), Automatic Identification Systems (AIS), and modern navigation systems to assist command decision-making and the application of effective bridge resource management principles and procedures

• ARPA – to give candidates the essential education and training in the fundamentals and operation of ARPA and in the interpretation, analysis and safe application of information obtained from ARPA

• Small Ships Navigation and Radar – to give candidates the essential education and training needed to keep a safe navigational watch and to use radar, electronic charts, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) and other electronic aids to maintain safety of navigation in small vessels.

This document provides the requirements for Navigation Aids and Equipment Simulator Training (NAEST) Operational and Management certification, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) training and Small Ships Navigation and Radar training, set out in Chapter II of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) International Convention of Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers, 1978 (STCW Convention), as amended, and corresponding sections of the STCW Code.

Training courses developed in line with these criteria and delivered at centres approved by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), will cover the mandatory minimum requirements for the safe use of navigational aids, and the application and intent of the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea 1972, as amended.

The specifications described in this document have been developed by the Merchant Navy Training Board (MNTB) in conjunction with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

The MCA has agreed with the MNTB that the specifications described in this document will satisfy the requirements for training. A course developed to deliver Navigation Aids and Equipment Simulator Training (NAEST) Operational and Management certification, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA) training and Small Ships Navigation and Radar training shall be approved by the MCA in accordance with the approval process described in Annex A.

Guidance on simulator exercises can be found at:

• Annex E (NAEST O)

• Annex K (NAEST M)

• Annex Q (Radar and ARPA)

• Annex W (Small Ships Navigation and Radar).

The national occupational standards relating to this training are:

NAEST Operational

B02 Maintain a navigational watch

B11 Initiate the response to navigation emergencies

NAEST Management

B03 Plan a navigational voyage

B04 Control navigation and vessel handling

B12 Direct the response the navigation emergencies

Radar and ARPA

B02 Maintain a navigational watch

Small Ships Navigation and Radar

B02 Maintain a navigational watch

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