News

   Articles about MarTEL were published in the Nautilus Telegraph this month, with further articles having been sent to major Maritime publications and magazines around the world. Safety at Sea has already stated their intention to publish a piece in their January 2013 edition.

   The MarTEL Plus Project officially ended at the end of November 2012 and has entered its post-funding period.

   The MarTEL products were showcased to a number of key stakeholders and policy makers at the final MarTEL Plus conference in London on the 23rd of November. This was part of the International Maritime Training Week. The overall reception was excellent with attendees scoring MarTEL highly in quality.

This was an excellent opportunity for dissemination and news regarding the conference will be published as part of press releases in the near future by a number of international maritime publications, who are in contact with the MarTEL consortium.

   Preparations are underway for the final MarTEL conference in London at the end of November. Keynote speakers and partners are preparing their presentations, which will include workshops for the MarTEL Plus Mobile Application and Enhanced Oral Test.

   The MarTEL range of products is now finished and ready to be launched for use by the maritime community.

   Number of press releases and articles have been prepared regarding the MarTEL range of products and the upcoming final project meeting and conference. The press releases primarily will be used for the purpose of dissemination of the MarTEL project and associated products, and to advertise the final partner meeting and conference.

   Letters have been sent out to key stakeholders and policy and decision makers in the maritime community, inviting them to be in attendance at the final conference.

   The MarTEL Plus Enhanced Oral Test with one-to-one evaluation has been finalised by test developer, NVNA. Major piloting sessions are being undertaken among project partners’ institutions.

   MarTEL Phase R tests for Ratings (Deck and Engineering) have been finalised by test developer (TUDEV) with support from core partners. Major piloting sessions are being undertaken by test developers and project partners.

   Teacher’s Guidelines (TGs) have been developed for all MarTEL Phase Tests, including Phase R, Phase 1, Phase 2 (Deck and Engine) and Phase 3 (Deck and Engine). This new set of TGs will assist Maritime English Teachers in developing the content of their lessons by having access to the study units developed within the MarTEL project.

   MarTEL Plus 3rd Partner Meeting, 8 Oct-9 Oct 2011 in Constanta, Romania. 13 project members have participated, representing 9 partner organisations (C4FF, SUAS, WMU, UCA, NMCI, OPR, TUDEV, SPIN, and NVNA), including Skype connection with partners from SPIN and UCA.

   IMEC 23 hosted by Constanta Maritime University. Paper ‘Piloting MarTEL Standard’ by H. Lahiry, M. Ziarati and R. Ziarati was presented by Dr. Martin Ziarati. Workshops on MarTEL Phase R were held by partners from TUDEV and NVNA.

   A comprehensive set of Teachers Guidelines for the Phase 1 MarTEL Standard was completed. A comprehensive set of Teachers Guidelines for the Phase 3 MarTEL Standard for Senior Deck Officers and Port Officials were completed.

   OPR attended the Danish ship-owner ERRIA A/S Safety of Navigation seminar. Presentation was given to about 50 participants (ship’s crew members), company workers, associated organizations. The topic of “Importance of onboard communication” in which MarTEL Plus aims was presented.

   TUDEV, SUAS and OPR have created test for the Maritime English Phase R standard for ratings . This result is crucial for MarTEL Plus project. The test will be piloted with groups from several vocational colleges and high schools within the partnership countries in the nearest future.

   Study guidelines to accompany the Maritime English test for the Phase R standards aimed at ratings have been created. The set of study guidelines aim to prepare candidates wishing to take the MarTEL test.

   Enhanced oral assessment criteria and sample questions for examiners for speaking sections of Phase tests of the MarTEL standards have been produced. The two- tier system for the assessment of the speaking skill introduced in MarTEL Plus project allow fairer assessment of a candidate’s ability to speak English than in previous Maritime English Language tests.

   TUDEV with support from NVNA have produced study guidelines for test takers of the one-to one oral evaluation for the Martel standards.

   UCA with support from WMU and C4FF are drafting a comprehensive set of teacher guidelines for the Phase 2 for Marine Engineering officers.

   The 2nd MarTEL Plus partner meeting was held on 18th – 20th May 2011 at Nicola Vaptsarov Naval Academy, Varna, Bulgaria. We wish to thank our Bulgarian partners for being excellent hosts. The meeting ran alongside NVNA’s 130th Anniversary and Scientific Conference, which MarTEL Plus partners participated in. Professor Ziarati gave a plenary speech, during which he talked about MarTEL Plus. Please visit Meetings page to see the photos.

   Spinaker has developed the first prototype of the mobile phone application to host the mobile phone practice tests. These practice tests, when ready, will be accessible through most internet enabled mobile phones. It will be possible to use this application offline, so that it is possible to use the content whilst away at sea.

   The speaking test team at NVNA have produced test specifications, the final list of topics, and sample tasks for the MarTEL Plus speaking test. Piloting will begin in the next few months.

   A BTEC compatible set of test specifications for the new test for ratings (‘Phase R’) has been drafted by TUDEV in collaboration with OPR and SUAS. In the coming months, these partners will develop sample items, which will be piloted at various partner institutions throughout Europe.

  Work on teachers’ guidelines for MarTEL Plus has started, with UCA delivering the first set for Phase 2 Deck. Next will be teachers’ guidelines for Phase 2 Engineering. Eventually a full set of teachers’ guidelines will be produced for each MarTEL test, including the new test under development for ratings, ‘Phase R’.

   The MarTEL Plus steering committee has been defined and their roles outlined. It will be mostly constituted by the contact persons of the partners. The steering committee can discuss arising issues over email, Skype meetings, or face to face meetings.

   The MarTEL Plus Kick Off Meeting was held on 4th and 5th October 2010 in Istanbul, Turkey. We wish to thank TUDEV for being an excellent host. Please visit Meetings page to see the photos.