Category: Martin’s Blog Entries

Original blog entry

January 29, 2018

Transport Canada and Engineering CoC – A fine mess

Some engineer like myself have been putting off upgrading my Canadian Marine Engineering Certificate of Competency, my “CoC”, or “engineering license” / “ticket”, due to the fact the system had become cumbersome, and completely out of touch with reality. As signatory to the Standards of Training, Certification, Watchkeeping (STCW) convention of 1995, as amended in Manila, in 2010, Transport Canada...

Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 4

November 16, 2017

TC issues brief statement on SSB fiasco

I reached out to Transport Canada Media Relations for a statement on the Ship Safety Bulletin situation. Namely, were the Marine Engineering Certificate of Competency issued under the Ship Safety Bulletin 05/2017, still valid? I also asked about timeline of new guidelines (SSB) being issued, and what resources were made available to address the backlog of applications. I received a...

Martin's Blog Entries/Press Release Comments: 6

November 14, 2017

Not so fast there !

It was a Tuesday morning; I was getting ready to ship out to sea, setting my affair in order when I received a call from the Transport Canada Marine Safety (TCMS) office. It had been almost two week since I had call to schedule a time where I might come in to discuss the likelihood that I could upgrade my...

Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 0

October 28, 2017

Digging St Clair

Thought I’d share a recent email I sent my young boys at home, wondering what I do “at sea”, on a dredger. This crew signed on in Toronto, almost two weeks ago. We then proceeded across lake Ontario to Port Weller, through the seaway locks, all eight of them, to “climb” the Niagara Falls. We crossed Lake Erie, east to west, ...

Martin's Blog Entries Comment: 1

October 20, 2017

Spreading the good word about Mari-Tech 2018

Mari Tech 2018 – Honing the leading edge Technical conference and Marine Exhibition Victoria Conference Center, Victoria, BC, Canada April 18-20, 2018 Its been a while since the West Coast of Canada has seen this annual gathering of marine professionals. Allot has happen since the last successful Mari Tech, hosted by Vancouver Island Branch of the Canadian Institute of Marine...

Industry News/Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 0

June 25, 2017

Friends at Sea

Here’s a video I recently posted on my YouTube channel from a recent stint at sea. Filmed in June 2017, about 100 miles from Cape Hatteras, off the US east coast, we encountered many pod of dolphins (to be honest they may be purposes, I have no idea). This one pod was spotted far away coming towards the ship, not...

Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 0

June 18, 2017

Is Transport Canada going Plaid?

When I made up this graphic from a Jaws movie poster, it was to sort of characterize the coming of STCW2010; I knew it was a provocative, but as it turns out, quite accurate. The new requirements for retraining are significant, but hit every seafarer around the world equally. In addition to these new requirements, Transport Canada (TC) looks set...

Industry News/Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 4

June 14, 2017

Marine Engineering wages – Part 2 of 2

In part one of this thread, I theorized that the Canadian marine industry did not have an effective workforce succession plan, and therefore relies for its survival on what should be, the “fringe” groups within the make-up of the workforce. Without a larger, younger, but more experienced core to the workforce, the people who should be on the edges –...

Martin's Blog Entries Comments: 2

Martin Leduc on Escape from the Engine RoomFebruary 28, 2024
actually... after my watch rounds, i don't. I, and many active seafarers sailing at sea, thank you for the pity.…
Another foogle user on Escape from the Engine RoomFebruary 26, 2024
It's a fictitious film not real life what does it matter if it's heavily modified or international sea regulations blah…
Another foogle user on Escape from the Engine RoomFebruary 26, 2024
What's next the Black Pearl from Pirates of the Caribbean wouldn't float or it wasn't made from the correct timber
Another foogle user on Escape from the Engine RoomFebruary 26, 2024
Have you nothing better to do with your life than start pulling a fictional film apart you're quite sad I…
Falling through the cracks on Canada – Marine Personnel Regulation Proposed ChangesJanuary 28, 2024
I took the first Electro-technical Officer RO course in Canada in 2019. Between the training Institute and Transport Canada, we…