Intership Navigation - 'Preparing our sea staff for the technologies of the future'

Intership Navigation Co. Ltd is a global independent ship manager, founded in 1988 in Limassol, Cyprus and internationally recognised for its progressive pursuit of service and customer excellence. Intership Navigation manages a diverse fleet, comprising dry bulk carriers, tankers, gas carriers, general cargo ships, cement carriers, and PCTCs.

They enjoy a remarkable crew retention rate of 96%, which is a testament to the robust support provided by group-owned manning agencies, the Intership Navigation Training Centre (ISNTC) in Manila and their driving commitment to enhancing the training, career progression, and safety of their seafarers.

The Challenge

To maintain high safety and service standards for its 3,000 seafarers, Intership invests heavily in delivering quality, up-to-date training. This includes creating many of their own courses and maintaining a contract with a digital training provider to ensure seafarers can access training seamlessly from any location and meet essential competence and audit criteria.

Intership`s on-board training approach needed to be made fit for the future and utilise the modern learning technologies available. Previously Intership had mainly delivered training onshore through its school in Manila (ISNTC) and in conjunction with several centres in Europe.

In 2009, Intership introduced its own company-managed Learning Management System (LMS), which was server-based and only available on board as an offline library on DVD’s. Training on the vessels was limited to coaching and lecturing by training officers, crew and visiting shore-based personnel or using the occasional third-party, stand-alone training tool.

Although a comprehensive training matrix was followed by all crew, these onboard training results were not automatically imported into the training records of the seafarers.

In 2023 the company realigned its training needs and decided to maintain the onshore training as well as strengthen the onboard training possibilities offered to all officers and crew. In addition to the ISNTC Training School in Manila, Intership decided to explore relationships with selected third-party training providers and identify a training partner who was able to offer an easy-to-install, easy-to-maintain and easy-to-administrate LMS.

Mintra and their Trainingportal Learning and Competency Management System was selected as the best solution for Intership going forward.

Capt. Rene Dzicki, Head of Training at Intership Navigation, “Pairing our in-house training platform with a new training provider was a daunting task. We aimed to preserve the experiences of the past whilst preparing our sea staff for the technologies of the future.”

The Solution:

Capt. Rene Dzicki, Head of Training at Intership Navigation, “Having worked with many training providers over my 40 years on and around the sea, I’m consistently impressed with Mintra’s professional and straightforward approach.”

Mintra’s specialist team conducted a thorough review and update of Intership’s training matrix, aligning it with the company’s learning objectives while reducing repetition to improve engagement and knowledge retention.

The revamped matrix features 60 of Mintra’s accredited courses and 40 of Intership’s own, all accessible online and offline via Trainingportal, Mintra’s Learning and Competency Management System, and the Trainingportal app.

The migration, executed over eight months, required careful coordination with the previous provider’s contract completion dates across 60 vessels. Mintra’s Customer Success team managed the project, collaborating closely with Intership’s Training and Technical teams to ensure a smooth transition. Intership’s Admin and IT staff prepared the backend ahead of time, setting up the system before going live.

Jannis Schack, Key Account Manager at Mintra, said, “Our intuitive solution, combined with a high level of engagement and dedication from the Intership team made for a smooth integration. Rafal Zaluski, IT Administrator at Intership was particularly instrumental in bringing the system ‘to life’ from Intership's end which made the implementation very effective. We appreciated Interships commitment to working with the new system.”

Rafal Zaluski, Business Analyst, Intership Navigation, shared, “I worked closely with the Mintra team from day one and found the migration documentation easy to navigate. I was easily able to explore the API`s (Application Programming Interfaces) so that our systems could exchange data and functionality which meant we were able to get the new system up and running seamlessly.”

“I wish all software providers were as professional and helpful as Mintra!”

Through close collaboration, Mintra and Intership’s technical teams successfully downloaded Trainingportal onto existing vessel hardware, eliminating the need for additional hard drives or equipment.

Access to Mintra’s SafeMetrix psychometric assessment platform has been supplied to support the recruitment and development of seafarers through psychometric testing.

This enables them to make better crewing decisions by gaining insights into non-technical skills, so they can establish targeted training for the development of all personnel, ensuring their well-being and safety.

Dieter Rohdenburg, CEO of Intership Navigation, said, “Our seafarers are the ambassadors of our business, and we are committed to providing them with the best possible training to be safe and deliver the exceptional service we promise our customers."

"The successful migration to Trainingportal and our engagement with SafeMetrix reinforce our dedication to investing in our seafarer’s wellbeing and training.”

The Results:

There are currently one hundred courses in Intership’s core training matrix and over 2,500 active users. As well as the subscribed eLearning courses in the training matrix, Intership has benefited from tapping into the comprehensive course database, using other industry-relevant courses to address training issues if they come up. Between February and September 2024, there were close to 23,000 courses completed and certificates generated.

Intership benefits from a more advanced, flexible and comprehensive training solution at a lower cost than the previous providers. The new flexible contract model covering all vessels has led to significant cost savings and optimised the training management process whilst simultaneously improving their service quality and seafarer engagement.

The intuitive, user-friendly dashboard of Trainingportal allows the Intership team to fully manage the system and make administrative changes independently, without relying on Mintras support.

The reduction in time spent managing complex systems, certifications, and updates has freed up valuable resources for Intership. This also means that Mintra’s customer support team doesn’t need to spend hours handling administrative inquiries for on-shore staff and is freed up to provide rapid responses to seafarer’s inquiries when they are training, 16 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Seafarers have benefitted from having all of their completed course certificates stored on Trainingportal. They are easy to locate, available on and offline, and can be printed off at any time if necessary. There is no need for them to carry 100’s of certificates with them on board. This has also helped the Masters onboard during inspections, as non-STCW course certificates are easily evidenced.

Course updates, administrative tasks, and crew certifications are automatically updated and synchronised when the ship is online. The new training matrix, combined with 24-hour accessibility, and integration with Intership’s internal crew management system, provides seafarers with a centralised location for all their training and certifications, streamlining the overall training experience.

Trainingportal’s integrated competency management system also offers seafarers clear visibility and control over their career progression, empowering them to actively pursue promotions. The use of Mintra’s SafeMetrix assessment is enhancing the recruitment and development of seafarers and the crewing team are making data-driven decisions about role suitability based on soft, cognitive, and interpersonal skills, such as leadership and the ability to cope under pressure.

Capt. Rene Dzicki, Head of Training at Intership Navigation, “The first weeks of intense collaboration and the ease of communication have left no doubt that our ambitious goals will be achieved."

Dieter Rohdenburg, CEO of Intership Navigation “The successful migration of our fleet and crew to Mintra's Trainingportal marks a significant milestone in our partnership. Together, we are setting new standards in maritime training and competency management, ensuring that seafarers are well-equipped to navigate today’s challenges and the innovations of tomorrow.”