220 years of nautical training in Palma
220 years of nautical training in Palma
The Nauticopesquera, now located at the Dique del Oeste, has been training Mallorcans in professional navigation techniques for over two centuries, theory and practice to go out to sea with safety and efficiency.
The Nauticopesquera, as it is known today, has been located at the Dique del Oeste for about thirty years, although over the past 220 years it has been based in different places in the city and has had different names, it has always maintained the same goal, to train Mallorcans in the art of professional navigation.
In the current 20/21 school year it has 180 enrolled students, who are studying to become marine engineers or deck officers, the two main branches of training at this benchmark school. It is currently a Higher Vocational Training center aimed at bringing students closer to the working reality of a technically complex sector. In addition to training young people, it also offers specific courses for professionals already working at sea, such as basic training (seaman), bridge, firefighting, survival at sea, etc.
At the school, theoretical training is of a medium-high level, since the final goal, becoming a ship’s captain or an engine room chief, is a job of great responsibility.
Several major companies collaborate with this vocational training, among which Astilleros de Mallorca stands out, as for the past ten years it has helped Nauticopesquera students complete their training cycle with a real and mandatory experience that for months brings them into its mechanical, welding, electrical or hydraulic workshops. The workshop managers at Astilleros de Mallorca teach Nauticopesquera students, who are under the Conselleria d’Educació and the SOIB, the secrets of the trade. Filing, welding, polishing, repairing, replacing, everything becomes real, tangible and demanding in a professional workshop.
The most outstanding students are often hired by the same shipyard or by companies in its orbit. It is therefore a very well-planned training cycle that begins at the Nauticopesquera, formally the “Centro Integrado de Formación Profesional Nauticopesquera”, and ends with them embarked on vessels of different sizes and types. A perfect combination of theory and practice in the knowledge of the most modern naval navigation and repair techniques.
The Nauticopesquera has been directed since 2010 by engine officer Toni Mulet and engineer Felipe Esteve, who has been head of studies since 2008. Both are steering this higher-level Vocational Training center that has now surpassed two centuries of existence.
For the school’s director, Toni Mulet, “We have adapted to new technologies and fortunately we have a center with very high-level teaching equipment. We have bridge and engine room simulators, which allow us to reproduce any situation that may occur on a vessel. This way, students will know how to respond to navigational or technical incidents which, if resolved properly, can save lives or vessels.” Toni Mulet also explains, regarding the internships carried out in the industry, that “The constant collaboration with Astilleros de Mallorca and other smaller companies in the sector is vital so that students can get hands-on experience with real workshops, tools and equipment that these large companies have and that a school could never buy or maintain.”
The head of studies, Felipe Esteve, states in turn that “at Astilleros de Mallorca they also provide us with engines, generators, propellers and equipment they have replaced, which we then assemble and disassemble here over and over again with the students.”
Even teachers from the center, including himself, have been doing placements over the past three years at Astilleros de Mallorca to learn first-hand about new techniques and processes in the sector of repair, maintenance and refit of large yachts.
Felipe Esteve is optimistic about the future of the professions of deck officer or marine engineer, “The nautical sector is doing very well in the islands and employs thousands of people, so training young people to enter this sector is vital. Our school has been operating for more than two hundred years and without a doubt we have many more years of technical training ahead of us. Advances in propulsion technology, electronics and energy efficiency are in constant and rapid evolution, so we have the duty to always stay up to date, to study and teach each new technique to future captains and engineers. There is a great past in navigation and training, at least 220 years, but we also have, without a doubt, a great future ahead of us.”
Source:
https://www.ultimahora.es/noticias/local/2021/03/14/1246321/formacion-nauticopesquera-mallorca.html