German Tanker Shipping switches to Mintra for enhanced learning
“We were confident that Mintra would meet our high expectations and we were not disappointed,
as our team was delighted with the professionalism exhibited.”
Anna Lisa Peste, Crew Coordinator, GTS.
German Tanker Shipping turned to Mintra for an industry-leading learning management system to deliver first-class digital learning for 500 of its international seafarers across 15 vessels.
German Tanker Shipping (GTS) had previously introduced a learning management system (LMS) to its crew but was considering an alternate provider to enhance the learning experience and streamline processes.
“GTS required a platform which would be robust and flexible to meet the demands of our crew as well as the administrators. At the time we had been working with Mintra for four years and valued the benefits of the existing Electronic Chart Display and Information Systems (ECDIS) solution. This included the flexibility, cost structure and reduced time investment required,” Anna Lisa Peste, Crew Coordinator, GTS.
GTS is a shipping company founded in 1998 in Bremen. With a hands-on mentality, all vessels are supervised and centrally managed in all aspects such as inspection, chartering, technical supervision, purchase and crewing directly from Bremen.
“It is vital for the success of GTS to be able to ensure the provision of efficient manning with the appropriate competence, especially when working to tight deadlines.”
"We were impressed with not only how Mintra approached the learning,
but also by the safeguards which were in place to prevent foul play.”
GTS’ requirements for a potential new provider included improved levels of customer support, high quality of courses and value. It was crucial for the oil tanker owner to onboard an industry leading catalogue of maritime digital learning courses to ensure its seafarers possess crucial operational knowledge and can back up their competence with well-recognised certification.
“We were attracted to Mintra by the availability of a large portfolio of digital maritime courses, essential to the success of our business model. It is also important for GTS to have the confidence that any provider we work with has auditing processes in place to guarantee the high quality of the certification. We were impressed with not only how Mintra approached the learning, but also by the safeguards which were in place to prevent foul play.”
The next natural step for the operator was to expand its existing portfolio of Mintra products by onboarding the flagship LMS Trainingportal and a comprehensive portfolio of digital learning courses. GTS was certain that the benefits realised when deploying ECDIS learning would also be available across all other solutions.
“We were confident that Mintra would meet our high expectations and were not disappointed, as our team was delighted with the professionalism exhibited. Through regular communication as well as a clear shared goal, we identified potential pitfalls and prevent complications from occurring. We were especially satisfied with the quick response time of the support function at Mintra, something we had struggled with previously.”
Through effective communication and a strong development plan, GTS was able to roll out the comprehensive learning solution across the head office as well as its vessels in October 2022. The release made a noticeable positive change to the daily management of crews globally. It soon became apparent what a significant time saving could be obtained when deploying Mintra’s Trainingportal.
“It is especially advantageous for our vessels to be able to upload the completed offline training into a central database upon regaining connectivity. This minimises the risk of duplications, removes the requirement for manual data entry and significantly reduces our administrative workload."
“Trainingportal allows us to have a complete overview of the status and activities of the crew and make amendments in real-time. We can access the student interface to better understand the concerns and queries of individual learners.”
GTS also benefits from the hybrid capability of Trainingportal, combining both online and offline functionalities. The responsive technology allows seafarers to easily switch from cloud-based learning to continue their training and competence activities in regions with no or limited connectivity.
“It is especially advantageous for our vessels to be able to upload the completed offline training into a central database upon regaining connectivity. This minimises the risk of duplications, removes the requirement for manual data entry and significantly reduces our administrative workload. We can also activate the offline mode on-demand to save bandwidth. If a course is undertaken by one of our crew in the cloud, it is downloaded automatically and remains available for the rest of the vessel to access offline.”
It is also essential for the shipping company to look beyond the efficiencies and capabilities of any learning system they deploy to ensure it also meets the complex and unique requirements of crew as well as clients.
“A long-serving GTS Captain is currently working with Mintra directly to identify opportunities to further enhance and expand our product portfolio. We are increasingly seeing clients querying about soft skills or even psychometric testing. It will be an exciting road ahead for our partnership with Mintra to explore these potential avenues.”
GTS expects to continue its collaboration with Mintra to ensure it has all the tools at its disposal to support the crew and clients alike. Being able to leverage Mintra’s solutions GTS will be able to maintain the sovereignty and quality which has become synonymous with the shipping company’s name.
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