IAMU News No.12, June 2006

From the Editor

As noted, this twelfth issue of IAMU News is dedicated to the subject of LNG-related training. The importance of the issue, and the need for agreement on approved educational standards, has never been more critical than it is today.

According to the latest issue of the LNG World Shipping newsletter, the growth in this fleet sector has been dramatic. The newsletter notes that it took 34 years for the global fleet of LNG carriers to reach 100 vessels. Just eight years later, the figure is now 200. Current estimates are that the next 100 ships will be added in just two years. The fleet is growing and it is also changing. Traditional steam-turbine propulsion systems are being replaced in many of the newest ships by dual diesel/electric systems.

As noted in one of the following papers, if there is no radical change in specific training programs, the shortage of officers for LNG ships could reach 5,000 before the end of this decade. For us as educators, therefore, the crucial task is the completion of internationally recognized standards for training the next generation of officers and engineers who will man these ships.

The IAMU obviously has a leadership role -- not only setting the global education standards needed -- but in educating the other international organizations which must ultimately approve them as well.

It is our hope that these assembled papers will provide a better understanding of the issues involved, and lend a new and renewed urgency to reaching agreement on the standards which will guide our work in this area in the years ahead.

Dr. William B. Eisenhardt, President – The California Maritime Association and Head of the IAMU News Editorial Board