The Varna Pilot Station in Bulgaria has chosen Seably, the global online marketplace for bespoke maritime learning, to become the first pilot station to use the digital platform for its training.

Seably’s digital marketplace offers exclusive courses for the maritime industry, with more than 150 courses developed by industry specialists covering a wide range of topics and skills. In this last year, it has demonstrated the ease and convenience of accessing quality maritime training and development through its digital platform. Seably is a timely solution for the maritime industry as it comes out of the pandemic and faces increasing challenges to provide more accessible training. Earlier this year, Seably launched new offices in Bulgaria to establish a presence within the Eastern European market and provide support to the Black Sea region.

A member of the Bulgarian Maritime Pilots’ Association (BMPA) and European Maritime Pilots’ Association (EMPA), Varna Pilot Station had identified the need to update their training model by moving away from traditional training methods and adopting a digital approach. Seably met all their requirements and eliminated the need for pilots to visit a training centre and spend hours in a classroom.

Captain Alexander Borisov of Varna Pilot Station explained why Seably was chosen to improve their maritime training structure, saying “Our pilots need continuous access to quality training to ensure they comply with national and international rules and regulations. This is where we found the Seably platform to be highly impressive. It is very easy to use and navigate, and the ability to organise ongoing training for our pilots was extremely appealing.”

He continued, “We can see the changes taking place in training across the industry, so making this change was vital. With Seably, there are a lot of advantages, especially as we do not need any special equipment or devices to access the platform or training. It is an effective solution with quality content delivered digitally and online, making it accessible to our pilots anytime, anywhere. The fact that it saves us time applying our training schedules is an additional bonus.”

Seably CEO Andrea Lodolo understands why shipping associations are looking to make the change. Explaining Seably’s approach to digital training and platforms, he said, “The rapid growth and success of our marketplace shows the appetite within the maritime industry for progression and innovation. As the industry embraces digitalisation, making the transition to digital training has proven to be easy and beneficial in almost every way. Seably is meeting this rising demand with regards to maritime training. We are proud to work with Varna Pilot Station as they adopt the digital Seably approach to ensure their pilots are kept up-to-date with the required and latest training and development.”

Varna Pilot Station is the first pilot station to join as Seably expand the platform globally, offering the latest and most innovative training available to all seafarers. Seably is a unique marketplace providing affordable and free access to the latest maritime training and development for real-life learning. It was created by seafarers for seafarers. Uniquely, it has a shared revenue algorithm for the international community of course providers. The Seably platform can be accessed online and offline, at any time on land or at sea using apps, PCs and mobile devices.