MSC has partnered with marine conservation charity, ORCA, to provide training and education for its deck officers to mitigate possible marine strikes.
The comprehensive strike mitigation programme aims to reduce the likelihood of collisions with whales, dolphins and porpoises in oceans around the world.
Bridge officers aboard MSC Bellissima are the first to participate in the online training programme. This ship was chosen as the pilot vessel based on its navigation through the Pelagos Sanctuary on its current Mediterranean sailing. The sanctuary comprises a vast area of 87 500sqkm of water and 2 022km of coastline that is home to numerous marine species.
MSC and ORCA plan to educate those who work on the ship’s bridge about the marine mammals they may encounter on any given voyage, as well as the best practices for avoiding potential ship strikes.
Once the trial has been completed on the MSC Bellissima, the e-learning course will be rolled out across the cruise line’s fleet of 21 ships and added to newbuild MSC Euribia, due to launch in June.
In addition to the training programme, all of MSC’s recent vessels are fitted with propellers that balance the pressure environment, and include insulation to reduce noise and vibration from mechanical equipment, helping to minimise the negative impact on the marine environment.
MSC recently re-routed its ships off the west coast of Greece to reduce the risk of collision with endangered sperm whales in the Mediterranean.
