Kongsberg Digital  is pleased to reveal that it has just entered into a new partnership with the digital learning and human capital management software specialist, Mintra. The contract enables KDI to provide Mintra with its state-of-the-art K-Sim Connect simulations as cloud-based subscription applications for use with the Trainingportal. This is Mintra’s learning and competency management system which delivers eLearning to workers in safety-critical industries including maritime and energy.

In addition to accommodating KDI’s cloud-based simulation as a fundamental facet of its own courses, Mintra will be reselling K-Sim Connect subscriptions through its Marketplace, which is an online platform for buying and selling training. The contract will also enable Mintra’s customers to add practical simulation exercises to their theory-based eLearning courses.

The K-Sim Connect subscription-based simulation library is extensive and currently includes a range of training modules on disciplines such as engine room management, use of ECDIS and radar, cargo handling and route planning. Additional applications, covering all aspects of navigation training in depth, are currently in development and will be released later this year.

The partnership agreement with Mintra follows swiftly on from a similarly significant contract which KDI recently signed with the Northeast Maritime Institute (NMI) in Massachusetts, USA. As a result of the NMI arrangement, K-Sim Connect cloud-based simulation applications are now embedded within the nine eLearning courses accessible via the Northeast Maritime Online (NEMO°) training, examination and certification portal. The factor which ties in KDI’s involvement with both parties is that Mintra is the exclusive international market provider of the STCW-compliant NEMO° courses; the first fully online eLearning solutions of their kind in the world. Mintra sells these courses, which incorporate sophisticated assessment tools and exam monitoring software, through its Marketplace.

“It’s an exciting time to be optimizing trainee seafarers’ skills, safety and competence during the ongoing digital transformation of the shipping industry,” says Emmanolia Kolias, Sales Director, Marketplace, Mintra, “and our partnership with Kongsberg Digital will be key in giving instructors and students everywhere all the benefits of immersive, lifelike simulation training, at their fingertips.”

“Our alliance with Mintra is truly exciting,” adds Andreas Jagtøyen, Executive Vice President Digital Ocean, Kongsberg Digital. “Not only will it allow us to expand our market reach with maritime training institutions, ship managers and ship operators, but it also enables us to strengthen our support to a maritime industry currently experiencing an underlying, rapidly increasing complexity and a shortage of trained seafarers and other personnel.”