Terms and Conditions

Bluewater Training Terms and Conditions v. 3.2 

Date of Application: 01/07/2021

Approved: Training Director

1. Definitions

Training Courses are the short academic and vocational training attendance courses for the yachting industry as described in Bluewater’s published material which Bluewater has agreed to supply to the candidates.

Candidate an individual to whom Bluewater has agreed to provide training courses.

TDV means a Training Discount Voucher as issued by us in accordance with the provisions of a subscription to Bluewater ONE Account.                       

2. Service Description

Bluewater Training provides short training courses to the yachting industry.  All training courses supplied to candidates are subject to these Terms and Conditions and apply for each individual training class booked.  These Terms and Conditions are deemed as accepted on confirmation of the booking by a deposit payment.  Any changes to these conditions must be agreed in writing between Bluewater Training and the Candidate.                                   

3.  Candidates Rights and Obligations 

Courses are accessible to all candidates that meet the entry requirements for attendance.  Any candidate who wishes to discuss any requirements that they may need to have in place are encouraged to notify the Bluewater Training office prior to the course taking place so that arrangements can be made.  If you wish to read our Equality and Diversity policy please contact us by email (training@bluewateryachting.com).

It is the responsibility of the Candidate to obtain a seafarer’s medical (ENG1 or equivalent) before attending any short training course.   Bluewater is not liable for any loss, damage, cost, expense or other claims incurred by the client if it is not possible to obtain a Notice of Eligibility (NOE) and/or any Certificate of Competence (CoC) as a consequence of a limited seafarer medical (ENG1 or equivalent) or refusal by an approved practitioner to issue one.

The minimum age to attend the short training courses is 16 years of age.  Some courses require candidates to be at least 18 years of age as per the criteria established by the MNTB guidelines and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Royal Yachting Association (RYA), United States Coastguard (USCG) or any other accrediting organisation.   A valid photo identification (passport or any national identification document) will be required on the first day of the course, and will need to be presented to the office on the first day of the course and to the instructor, as proof of ID and age.

Training courses which have course pre-requisites and/or sea time requirements can only be attended if those requirements are met.  Any certificates and sea time records will need to be confirmed by the candidate at the time of booking, and documentary evidence presented on the first day of the course to office staff and/or to the training instructor. Bluewater is not liable for any loss, damage, cost, expense or other claims incurred by the Candidate who cannot attend the course as result of inability to produce documentary evidence of the prerequisites or of sea time requirements.

The training courses that involve a practical component require the Candidate to be in good physical condition.  Candidates will be required to sign a health declaration at the beginning of the practical short training course and disclose any medical condition or relevant medical treatment to the instructor that may affect their participation in the course. For some courses, a valid ENG1 or any other accepted national seafarer medical may be required and will need to be presented on the first day of the course to office staff and/or to the training instructor.  Bluewater Training is committed to ensure that all workplace environments, including classrooms, within its operations are both managed and used in a manner that is conducive to the safety.   Health and Safety (H&S) risk assessments have been conducted in all our training facilities and on courses that have a practical component.  H&S assessments are reviewed yearly.  If you wish to read our H&S risk assessments, please contact us by email (training@bluewateryachting.com).

All of the Training Courses are delivered in English and it is the responsibility of the Candidate to ensure they have a sufficient level of spoken and written English to understand the course content and to pass any verbal or written assessments. Bluewater Training reserves the right to remove from a course any student who does not have a sufficient level of English, with no refund of the course fees. Please contact our offices if you have any doubts about the level of English required. All training courses have an attendance requirement.  Bluewater Training reserves the right to withhold the Candidate’s certificate if an absence of more than 10% of the required attendance time of the course is noted by the instructor. 

Attendance certificates will only be handed to the Candidate upon presentation of a valid photo identification.  Duplicate attendance certificates will be issued upon confirmation of attendance of the training course and presentation of a valid photo identification.

Only candidates who have successfully completed the required education and training course for a particular subject will be eligible to take written examinations by presenting an attendance certificate issued by an approved training centre.   Bluewater strictly applies the examination procedures described by IAMI for deck and the SQA for engineering written examinations.  Candidates shall respect the code of conduct established by those authorities during the examination.

Bluewater Training has complaints, appeals and malpractice/maladministration procedures to which you have access in the event any issues may arise.  You may contact us by email (training@bluewateryachting.com) if you need any further information.  If you are attending a Highfield Qualifications accredited course in our training centre in Fort Lauderdale, please contact us by email (trainingusa@bluewateryachting.com) for a copy of their specific complaints, appeals and malpractice/maladministration policies and procedures.

4. Bookings and Payments

The price for the short training courses is specified in the price list in the course brochure published at the time of booking. The price for the short training courses includes the cost of course materials, such as course notes and/or pre-study material. The prices are not inclusive of exam fees andare not inclusive of added value taxes and in some cases TVA may be applicable.

We will be using the information you have given us to print your certificates.  If your details are not correct there may be a cost involved if a replacement certificate is required.  Please complete your registration form correctly and check your personal details by logging on to your online account. The amount of the fee is dependent on the date of the issue of the original certificate.

Bookings are only confirmed by the payment of a minimum deposit of 50% of the full price of the course.  Any booking made without a deposit payment is considered an inquiry only and the Candidate will be placed onto a waiting list.

The 50% balance of the course fee must be paid no later than 15 calendar days before the course starts. If you are unable to make full payment before the start of the course, please contact your training centre.

If Bluewater Training increases the price of a course after you have paid the deposit, you will only need to pay the price of the course when you originally made the booking. 

Bluewater will provide electronic/digital copies of course notes or pre-study material upon confirmation of the course booking, if relevant to that particular course.  Candidates are encouraged to bring a device to review the notes for the duration of the course. 

Bluewater and its Yacht Shop platform operate as an online booking platform for the third-party training provider; the Terms & Conditions of the third-party training provider will apply. 

5.  Cancellation and Refund Policy

We deliver our courses as far as reasonably possible and will do our best to deliver all programmed courses. However, if we fail to meet minimum number of bookings, if there are poor weather conditions, instructor issues or other unforeseen circumstances we reserve the right to cancel the course. We strongly recommend that you organise flights and accommodation only if you have received confirmation that the course is running. In the unlikely event we do so, you will be offered an alternative date or be refunded all pre-paid fees. 

In the case you cancel a confirmed booking, your payments will be refunded depending on date of cancellation:

• More than 30 calendar days before the start date of your course, you will be refunded in full without penalty;
• 30 to 16 calendar days before the start of your course, your 50% deposit payment will remain as a credit. The remaining 50% of the course fee balance payment will be refunded if it has already been paid.
• 15 to 6 calendar days before the start of your course, your 50% deposit payment is non-refundable and non-transferable. The remaining 50% payment will remain as a credit.   
• 5 calendar days or less before the start date of your course, all payments are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Your credit will be valid for 12 months from the first date of cancellation exclusively in the same location of the original booking.  Rescheduling of a course booking is limited to twice within 12 months of the original booking, after which your credit is forfeit. 

Bluewater Training reserves the right to further retain up to a maximum of 100€/US$, if any course material (printed or digital) has been delivered to the student upon confirmation of the booking by a deposit and the student does then not attend the course. 

In the event your course was booked with a third-party training provider, the Cancellation & Refund Policy of the third-party training provider will apply. 

There are no cancellations or refunds on any of our e-learning courses.

6.  Training Discount Vouchers (TDVs) 

Training Discount Vouchers (TDVs) may be credited towards the cost of any training courses operated by Bluewater Training at any of our training centres or, where available, on-board a yacht.

TDVs are valid for one calendar year following agreement with Bluewater ONE and may not be transferred to a subsequent year. 

TDVs are not transferable. TDVs will only be allocated to a short training course booked by a candidate employed by a Bluewater ONE subscriber.  TDVs will only be allocated with the express permission by the client in writing, email or in person.  Course payments for candidates no longer onboard a Bluewater ONE Account subscriber after the original booking was made may only proceed with the written consent of the Bluewater ONE Account subscriber. 

TDVs allocated will be lost in the event of non-attendance of the Candidate. If the training course is cancelled by Bluewater Training, any TDVs used shall be re-issued and will remain valid for the remainder of the relevant calendar year in which the course was scheduled.

TDVs will be accepted for the full or partial payment of short training courses. 

TDVs will not be accepted for payment of short training courses conducted by third party training providers or in third party training facilities.

Bluewater reserves the right to reallocate candidates paying with TDVs to another course date should the original course be over-subscribed.  In the unlikely event we do so, you will be offered an alternative date or be refunded any pre-paid fees.  

TDVs may not be redeemed against the cost of external examination fees, instructor expenses, nor may they be used in conjunction with any other promotional offer, such as bundles, which we may from time to time make available.   

The cancellation policy in paragraph 5 of this Terms and Conditions applies to payments using Training Discount Vouchers (TDVs).  Your TDVs MUST still be valid in order to reschedule your booking and transfer your TDV deposit payment to a later course. 

7. Intellectual Property

Any intellectual property rights, including copyright, arising from or in connection with the delivery of the training courses, belong to Bluewater Training unless otherwise agreed in writing between Bluewater Training and the Candidate.

8.  Privacy

Bluewater Training shall protect the privacy of candidates who book and attend the short training courses.  Please contact us by email (training@bluewateryachting.com) if you would like to receive a copy of our Privacy Policy. 

Any information given will be used according to the current Data Protection Laws and collected only with the explicit consent of the Candidate.  The information shall be held in a secure manner and not shared with any other organisation unless the Candidate agrees.

Bluewater Training may receive requests to verify the validity of certificates, issued by us for courses you have attended, from crew placement agencies or national maritime authorities. Bluewater Training will only confirm or otherwise verify the validity of the information requested and will not share any information regarding the Candidate unless the Candidate agrees. The Candidate will be able to check the information held by Bluewater Training by contacting the main office. Any inaccuracies will be deleted or corrected promptly.

The Candidate information shall remain confidential and shall be disclosed to the extent that the information is required to be disclosed by law.   Bluewater Training shall not share any of your contact details to any other organisation or individual without the expressed permission of the Candidate.

The Candidate will retain the right of opting out of receiving any emails or any other publicity material from Bluewater Training.

General

1.  Liability

Bluewater Training is covered by relevant liability insurances.   Any requests for information regarding this insurance please contact us by email (training@bluewateryachting.com).

2.  Governing Law

These Terms and Conditions and any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with it or its subject matter or formation (including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by the jurisdiction of the relevant competent court of law.