Laura Shaughnessy is the former managing editor at Dockwalk.
Sovren Nautical Academy successfully launched their virtual classroom courses in April, which helped them successfully roll out STCW and Yachtmaster modules. This comes on the heels of acquiring Aigua Sea School in Palma de Mallorca in March — which enabled them to start a new era of the academy in Barcelona and Palma.
The pandemic struck shortly after. When schools closed, they quickly transitioned all the classes to an online platform, launching their virtual classroom in April, which helped them successfully roll out STCW and Yachtmaster modules.
“It has been great to see the development of the virtual courses that we’re offering,” says Rachael Wilson, course manager, Sovren Nautical Academy. “The feedback from our students has been very positive, even those who preferred classroom to online studying before have embraced this new type of learning. We’re now developing more virtual course options, such as the STCW Ship Security Officer course we recently launched, to fit in with the current climate and ensure crew can continue their progression through the superyacht industry.”
“The feedback from our students has been very positive, even those who preferred classroom to online studying before have embraced this new type of learning," says Rachael Wilson.
They’ve trained yacht crew in numerous European countries in the Med, UK, Netherlands, as well as South Africa, South America, and the U.S., with a positive response from students.
The Academy has done a lot since being created for the maritime industry in 2013. It was formed as an initiative to provide the highest level of education and training for professional crew. It has a wide range of courses address STCW basic safety, RYA-accredited navigation, hospitality, firefighting and fire prevention.
They’re donating 10 percent of all course fees to Yachting Gives Back, an organization that fights hunger in The Balearics.
This column is taken from the October 2020 issue of Dockwalk.