Inmarsat has added a live streaming training partner to its Certified Application Provider (CAP) stable, with UK maritime training company Tapiit Live having joined the programme to offer live training to crews on vessels equipped with Fleet Xpress.
The first live stream training package will be offered on a dedicated 24-hour-a-day basis, on demand worldwide, the companies said.
“This is a hugely exciting moment for seafarer training. Tapiit saw a gap in the market as previously internet costs, with enough bandwidth to enable live streaming, were so high that it was thought live stream classroom style training was 10 years in the future – now we’re delivering it to close to 10,000 ships,” said Richard Turner, CEO at Liverpool-headquartered Tapiit Live.
“Tapiit has done a lot of technical work in the background to compress the file size of the different platforms required for live streaming such as video, recording and PowerPoint. As a result, we felt confident to approach Inmarsat with a technically robust product that would work on live stream – as there as so many poor alternatives with some companies attempting training at sea over patchy Zoom signals.”
“Inmarsat’s Fleet Connect dedicated bandwidth solution on its Fleet Xpress service alongside Tapiit’s technical expertise offers a training package specially designed by Tapiit and delivered at our studios that can innovate and improve seafarer training fundamentally.”
Training can be delivered to crews while still at sea via desktop, tablet or phone, with sessions broadcast from Tapiit’s studios in Liverpool and India. The company says it also plans to open additional studios in America and Singapore shortly.
The first live stream training packages will include toolbox talks, mental wellbeing, maritime English, risk assessments, security and safety culture.
“We are delighted that Tapiit Live will become a Certified Application Provider for our Fleet Connect dedicated bandwidth solution powered by Fleet Xpress,” said Marco Cristoforo Camporeale, Head of Maritime Digital, Inmarsat Maritime.
“This partnership will help improve onboard training tremendously with live streaming and we are excited to be working with an innovative partner that is revolutionising training at sea.”