MARSTAR St Petersburg - Survival Training

Dear all,

As there are a LOT of active Projects in Russia at the moment I thought you should ALL be aware of the above mentioned MARSTAR Training based in St Petersburg, Russia.

This 'Training Provider' issues certificates purporting to be OPITO BOSIET survival training (and possibly FOET and other certificates - I haven't seen any other examples yet) BUT they are NOT an Approved OPITO Centre.

The certificates state 'in accordance with the internationally accepted training program and OPITO requirements' - they don't even mention specific codes (e.g. OPITO, OLF, NOGEPA, N-SOCD, STCW-95 etc.).

PLEASE stifle these predators by NOT giving them your business. People are obtaining these certificates and expecting to be able to work worldwide with them but they're not worth the paper they're printed on. If a Training Provider tells you they're OPITO Approved don't take it as read - check via OPITO's website:

http://www.opito.com/uk/standards-and-approvals/training-and-assessment/approved-centres.html

I have made OPITO aware of this but let's name and shame these companies - they're taking advantage of those who don't know better and aren't sure where to get the advice they need.

PS. If someone can translate this into Russian that would be fantastic Smile

Member Joined: Dec 17, 2003 Location: Thailand

I know I speak for all of us when I say thank you Emma.... Hopefully the scammers will fall on their arses.

Folks, read the brochures very carefully prior to picking a school..... "approved" and "accredited" mean 2 totally different things.

Thanks scotbeve - I'd like to think we all do our best to bring these issues out into public.

I have been in conversation with Peter Lammiman who is the Technical Manager for OPITO Asia Pacific and he has contacted this company to demand they remove all mention of OPITO and any similarities in course name from their certificates and promotional materials.

He has asked me to continue to report companies such as MARSTAR to him, indeed together we have already identified other companies who are doing similar things in the Far East - TPTI MOG Industry Training in Thailand and SEQU Offshore Safety Sdn Bhd in Malaysia.

If anyone out there comes across similar certificates and you are unsure of what to do about this please feel free to send me the details and I can take a look OR please PM me and I'll forward you Peter's contact details.

If you are ever unsure of a Training Provider's credentials, please check with OPITO online or by telephone prior to parting with the money. I have to explain to people every day why their certificates are not worth the paper they're printed on.