Adeje council in conjunction with the Tenerife coastal action group, have designed a training course in maritime security under the ‘Maresía’ umbrella, with funding from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, an initiative of the regional department of farming and fisheries.
The training allows students to work towards a certificate which will allow them to work on different kinds of merchant and commercial vessels: ferries, cruise ships, tourist excursion boats, etc. The training was divided into 4 blocks with an overall duration of 122 hours; basic security training (70 hours), protection training (12 hours), passenger boats (16) and working on non-rapid rescue boats (24 hours).
The course was completed on October 6th and councillor for economic development and job creation Raquel Rodríguez Alonso, said, “The training in maritime security is very important, above all in a tourist destination such as Adeje, where we also have an excursion boat marina”.
During the first block of training on maritime security students learnt all about the security equipment carried on boats and how to use it in the case of any number of emergencies. They were also taught how to deal with a number of potential health emergencies that could arise at sea, which they would have to deal with as crew members, and were also drilled in how to act in the case of an emergency requiring evacuation of a vessel.
The following block saw the students learn basic protection training, to work on passenger boats and deal directly with the public in particular in the event of an emergency.
Finally the students undertook the block on working on rescue boats, for people who will be working with official bodies on survivor rescues, etc. Students learnt to use the equipment on rescue boats.
The team also learnt how to act in the case of a fire on board in terms of fighting the fire and helping passengers. For this section the students spent time in the Adeje volunteer fire brigade station.
Students were also given the chance to put some of their training into practice at the fishing port in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and visited the Naviera Armas ship, Volcán de Tinamar.
