Training and professional development

Since November 2013, we have linked the bridge simulator and the engine room simulator to create an innovation in European simulation technology. As a result, we are now able to conduct even more complex safety exercises under almost realistic conditions.

Since 2014, our crew has also been training for the operation of the first ship of the new AIDA ship generation – AIDAprima – which will begin service in October 2015. One of AIDAprima’s special features is its Azipod propulsion. Here the drive system lies in a streamlined pod and can be rotated around the vertical axis by 360 degrees. We introduced specific Azipod training sessions for the operation of this drive system in 2014 together with the system’s manufacturer.

We are planning the expansion of our simulation center and training opportunities in 2015. An increasing number of captains and officers from Costa will complete nautical and technical training in Rostock along with the AIDA managers. The open exchange of experiences and intensive cooperation with our colleagues at Costa offer great benefits. The crews are learning with and from each other in order to ensure the safety of our crew and guests as well as a safe and smooth ship operation at all times.

In addition to on-site training courses, simulations, and workshops, we also use modern methods such as blended learning and e-learning to help our employees gain qualifications. This also includes the web-based learning management system known as AIDA Expert, which our employees can access 24 hours a day from anywhere with Internet access for independent learning. The training catalogue includes all of the courses that AIDA offers as well as mobile learning modules on occupational health and safety, management standards, data protection, as well as technical and soft skill training. Our goal is to make online training as realistic as possible. For this reason, we are continuously developing AIDA-specific programs that are precisely tailored to the different job specifications on board. This is also why the training content has been enhanced with special modules such as ethics and compliance courses as well as German, Italian, and English courses. In 2014, we once again expanded the target group-specific offerings for specialty training, e-learning, management training, and language courses.

We increased the number of training seminars by 26 percent compared to the previous year. In order to train as many on-board employees as possible on issues related to health, environmental protection, and safety (8,434 employee training workshops), we added four extra HESS trainers (HESS = Health Environment Safety Security) to our fleet in 2013. As a result, we were able to roughly quadruple the number of training seminars on board last year. We increased the number of Hess trainers to seven in 2014.