The 16th Workshop of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities was held in Dalian, China from May 29th - 30th, 2006, immediately following the 16th IALA Conference.

    The Workshop was attended by 93 delegates from 25 countries, with the focus on the training of aids to navigation personnel. During the meeting, a technical tour was arranged to Liaoning MSA and the port of Dalian, where participants viewed VTS Center and training facilities for seafarers.

The Workshop consisted of 4 sessions under different subjects. The session 1 was chaired by Mr. Jin Shengli from China MSA, under the subject of “Identifying the need for aids to navigation training”. The session 2 was chaired by Mr. Jean-Charles Leclair from IALA, under the subject of “Overview of IALA and A to N Training”. The session 3 was chaired by Mr. Ma Jianshe from China MSA, under the subject of “Best practices in Training”. The session 4 was chaired by Mr. Zhang Xuwu, under the subject of “Consistent, quality delivery of aids to navigation training”.

    At the 2nd session, Ms. Jillian Carson-Jackson emceed a discussion on “Challenges in providing aids to navigation training”, and introduced the concept of IALA World Wide Academy and IALA e-learning portal.

    The two-day Workshop provided an opportunity for speakers to demonstrate their point of views and exchange viewpoints with audience on subjects of common interest. On May 30th, the Workshop closed successfully.