Maritime Simulation News

(defpro.com)

Kongsberg Maritime has developed a new touch screen based Engine Room Simulator configuration, which has been designed to offer realism to students whilst providing colleges and training institutes with a new opportunity to broaden the range of courses to be offered without investing in expensive new hardware.

Called Neptune MultiTouch, the system, which is part of Kongsberg Maritime’s market leading Neptune ERS portfolio, is already in use at the Georgian College, Ontario and has also been chosen by the Ã…land University of Applied Science.

Neptune MultiTouch, which uses multiple touchscreens integrated with real-life engine room consoles and panels, enables a college to quickly and easily select between simulation models. The system allows instructors to change from a VLCC to a Cruise vessel, or a Ferry within seconds.

“MultiTouch is an innovative and flexible solution that offers several benefits because of its ability to run various simulation models on the same HW configuration,” says Harald Kluken, Product Advisor – Engine Room Simulators, Kongsberg Maritime. “It loads a new set of MultiTouch Mimic Diagrams as a different engine room simulation model is loaded, allowing for different courses to be offered on the same hardware solution. This provides immediate cost saving whilst at the same time enables training institutes to offer a wider set of courses, therefore attracting a greater number of students and customers.”

The MultiTouch technology already enables training on a number of well known engine and machinery systems, such as ME Remote Console, Power Management console and engine room stations with Neptune ERS MAN B&W 5L90MC VLCC, ERS Pielstick 10PC4 Ferry M22 and ERS Diesel Electric AC Cruise Vessel DE22.

Associated subsystems can be accessed from Engine Room MultiTouch Stations presenting for instance Start & Service Air Systems, HFO Purifiers, LO Purifier, DO Purifier and Bilge-Sludge Systems. Also Main Switchboard can be delivered with MultiTouch functionality.

The new MultiTouch system is based around Kongsberg Maritime’s well proven and tested Neptune architecture for engine room simulation, ensuring that all models are highly accurate, whilst offering true realism to help ensure students retain what they learn during simulator training.

The Georgian College MultiTouch installation is part of a large Neptune ERS delivery that was completed in October 2008. The delivery included a range of marine engine models installed in both full mission and desktop configurations. The low speed ERS MAN B&W 5L90MC VLCC and the medium speed ERS Pielstick 10PC4 Ferry were delivered in both full mission and desktop, with additional desktop models for the ERS Sulzer 12RTA84 Container and the ERS MaK 8M32C Trawler engine.

(defpro.com)

15:01 GMT, November 14, 2008 – Oceans cover 71% of the earth’s surface. Today, around two-thirds of the world’s population live in coastal zones. Nearly 95% of global long-distance freight is shipped by sea. Each year, around 3.5 billion tons of cargo and some 350 million passengers pass through European ports alone. Globalization is nowhere so apparent as on the world’s seas and oceans.

The sea divides and the sea unites. In today’s globalized world, ocean-going commerce is the lifeblood of the advanced economies. This makes effective, futureoriented R&D and training in shipbuilding, maritime and nautical technology just as important as having efficient modern ports and shipyards.

As a leading supplier of simulator systems, Rheinmetall has set itself the goal of supporting the maritime society with solutions that will enable mankind to master the challenges of tomorrow. As a token of the company’s commitment, Rheinmetall transferred a second “ANS 5000 professional” nautical simulator to Bremen’s University of Applied Sciences on 14 November 2008.

The transfer marks a continuation of the close ties between Rheinmetall and the University, which enjoys a global reputation as a centre of excellence for shipbuilding, maritime and nautical technology. The University’s first “ANS 5000 professional” simulator was installed in 2004.

The “ANS 5000 professional” simulator faithfully recreates the maritime environment in astonishing detail, realistically simulating currents, tides, sea conditions, environmental and weather influences as well as different shoreline and seabed structures; the simulated vessels range in size from small tugs to the latest generation of Post-Panamax container ships, measuring over 400 metres in length.

This flexible system can both simulate and or stimulate a variety of different engine types, control devices, navigation and communication systems. Users can practise operating on the open sea, in coastal areas and canals, whether free of pilot or with articulated tugs, and under virtually any nautical condition imaginable.

State-of-the-art computer-generated imagery simulates the external view from the bridge. The horizontal field of view spans 270 degrees, and can be modified to encompass 360 degrees.

The system realistically simulates sensors and navigation instruments such as GPS/DGPS, Loran-C, Echo Sounder and Doppler Speed Log, which are linked to the monitor. Other highlights are the presence of real bridge components such as a NACOS system from SAM Electronics, whose radar, ECDIS electronic charts and Automatic Identification System (AIS) make it virtually indistinguishable from the real thing.

A further significant advantage of the second system is that it can be operated in tandem with the system the University already employs. In this configuration, each simulator operates its own ship in a joint scenario, with each ship influencing the other, enabling highly sophisticated operations to be performed.

Simulated manoeuvres are intensively observed and evaluated. The trainer is able to monitor and graphically depict all of the simulation data. It can introduce environmental factors, control other ships and cause malfunctions to occur in the trainee’s ship. Every manoeuvre is recorded and can be called up on a large-screen display for subsequent post-operation analysis and debriefing.

However the simulator does more than provide intensive, high-quality training for maritime professionals. It can also be used for instructing pilots, carrying out research projects and preparing expert reports ““ such as investigating the feasibility of planned port facilities before a single spade is turned.

With the Ship Handling Simulator “ANS 5000 professional” , Rheinmetall and the University of Applied Sciences in Bremen play a significant role in teaching the ropes to Germany’s next generation of merchant marines as well as helping to secure the future of German shipping industry in general.

Link: rheinmetall.com

(lloydslist.com)

Keith Wallis, Hong Kong – Monday 10 November 2008

MANDATORY simulator training should be introduced for deck and engine room staff to improve operational standards and efficiency, according to the head of a leading ship management company.

Peter Cremers, Anglo Eastern Group chief executive, said the simulator training would overcome the problem that there was not enough time to study on board given the restrictions of operating modern vessels.

He thought the lack of time to learn on board meant officers had less time to prepare for emergencies.

Mr Cremers, who is also the current chairman of the Hong Kong Shipowners’ Association, pointed out that the career path from cadet to master had been reduced to six years. Consequently seafarers did not have the time to build experience to handle different situations.

As a result, the shipping sector should use ideas from the airline industry to improve safety and operational standards.

The use of mandatory simulator training, which seafarers including masters had to pass rather than just attend, was one initiative. Mr Cremers said this requalification should be held every two years.

He said cheating, whether ‘flogging the log’ or falsifying log entries to cover oil pollution should become a “thing of the past” . Mr Cremers said the falsification of entries covering pollution were “most of the time a bigger, or the only, crime than the pollution itself.

Flogging the log, either by tampering with speed and consumption figures, failing to register stoppages at sea or tampering with time and the position of arrivals, should also be outlawed.

“While it may be argued that these are the normal procedures of commercial handling of counter party contractual terms, how can one keep on making the distinction between was is criminal and what is not.

How long do we still have to pretend that cheating a counter party on purpose is part of a normal way to conduct business,” he said.

Mr Cremers also thought ship maintenance should not be driven by the commercial conditions at the time and instead should be linked to the 25-year design life of the ship. He said that if the ship is designed for 25-years service then owners or operators should “develop a maintenance programme for 25 years” as part of a move to disconnect maintenance from commercial or operational pressure.

He said it was a refrain from owners that when the market was high there was no time for maintenance, but when the market was low there was no money for maintenance. Mr Cremers thought all maintenance programmes should come from the original manufacturers, including the newbuilding yard, using a common IT platform.

Finally, Mr Cremers thought seafarers and ship managers should be adequately rewarded for the responsibility of looking after a ship. For shipmanagers this should involve a basic management fee plus an additional payment in accordance with meeting clearly defined performance indicators.

(bymnews.com)

Utilising the latest in touch sensitive technology, Kongsberg Maritime has developed the Multiflex Panel, a flexible touch-screen panel for its Polaris simulation systems that can be configured with different panel functions. This enables training institutes to offer a wider range of training on their Kongsberg Maritime Polaris full mission simulators whilst keeping costs down.

Over 70 different panel functions are available, representing a major step forward in new cost-effective simulation training solutions from Kongsberg Maritime. The system has been designed as a replacement for hardware panels by replicating the same panels in a touch sensitive graphical format.

During an exercise, students can easily switch between different functions e.g. Doppler log and Echo sounder on the same panel. The instructors can choose between a wide range of panel functions to be made available to the students via the Multiflex Panels from the Instructor-PC or simply use pre-configured training scenarios for a specific ship class, which will automatically present the panels required.

“Our new Multiflex Panels will provide our customers with enhanced flexibility and enable them to re-configure their bridge instrument set-up to meet their own customer training requirements. This will provide them with much more flexibility in the training scenarios that they present on their full mission simulators as new scenarios do not require hardware to be swapped out,” says Terje Heierstad, Product and Technology Manager, Simulation, Kongsberg Maritime.

(yourindustrynews.com)

New specific operation simulation and procedure development functionality added.

Currently in development, the new Anchor Handling Simulator – AHS is scheduled for release before the end of 2008 and is being developed in parallel with a bespoke AHS for Maersk Supply Service, following a co-operation agreement that was signed in February 2008, based on over a decade of simulator collaboration.

The new Kongsberg Maritime AHS fulfils all training objectives of both the anchor handling vessel navigator and the winch operator. It also offers the possibility to simulate specific anchor handling operations prior to them taking place and to develop safety procedures and review them after the procedure is introduced in real life.

“Anchor handling is dangerous and expensive and therefore requires maximum knowledge of the equipment and its operation,” comments Kongsberg Maritime’s Product Advisor, Geir Lilje. “The extra functionality in the new AHS will help to make anchor handling operations safer as the industry concentrates on the development of such procedures, in light of recent anchor handling tragedies such as the Bourbon Dolphin.”

Kongsberg Maritime’s new AHS is clearly focused on very accurate ship movement and the calculation of external forces acting on the ship. To achieve this goal the company has developed a new ‘line’ module to present the wire, chain or rope acting on winches, guide pins or other Anchor handling equipment. It can be rendered in variable resolution and takes into account the entire range of actions possible of a line, including: Tension and forces, Free hanging (catenary curves), Interaction (or wrapping) around rigid bodies (deck, hull, etc) and interaction with objects at ends or in the middle (winch, shark jaw, pin, drum/roller, chaser, anchor, plough, etc).

Using Kongsberg Maritime’s latest SeaView R5 visual technology, the new AHS is able to create a highly realistic scene, which covers all elements of anchor handling operations and can be used to train on various scenarios, such as:

• Ship manoeuvring
• Operation of different types of AH equipment
• AH operations with offshore drilling units and other anchored floaters
• Retrieve and Run anchors using all common type of equipment
• Find the optimal positions/designs of handles and instruments
• Towing and accurate positioning of semi-submersibles and jackups
• Deck operations and procedures

“For the anchor handling simulation we have had a close cooperation with Maersk, one of the biggest Anchor Handling companies in the world. They have described possible scenarios with respect to big and small accidents, which has helped us ensure that the simulator caters for every possible scenario and eventuality,” comments Geir Lilje.

(yourindustrynews.com)

Kongsberg Maritime’s Polaris Bridge Operation (Ship’s Bridge Simulator) and GMDSS simulators have received DNV certification according to new standards laid out in DNV Class A ““ Standard for Certification of Maritime Simulators No. 2.14 October 2007, which is based on the requirements of STCW Convention, Regulation I/12.

The approval for the Polaris Ship’s Bridge Simulator meets the standards for Bridge Operation Simulator with class notation Nautical Safety All Waters (NAUT-AW). This means it provides the highest standard for safe navigation and view from the bridge, as well as system redundancy and particular requirements for user interface in technical equipment. In addition, the notation denotes that the ship models have extensive documentation of their manoeuvring characteristics.

The approvals are valid through 09/07/2013 and join those received for Kongsberg Maritime’s Neptune Engine Room and Cargo Handling simulators in January 2008, those being the first simulators to receive approval to the new DNV standard. The new standards have been introduced to ensure that simulators present an appropriate level of physical and behavioural realism in accordance with recognised training and assessment objectives.

As with all simulation, realism is the key to ensuring that lessons learned in the class room are utilised fully whilst at sea. Kongsberg Maritime is dedicated to constantly improving the three main areas that provide a realistic training experience; physical interaction of objects; hydrodynamic models and graphical fidelity, where visual realism of all models and objects in the simulation is the goal.

“The standards in realism required to achieve the new DNV approval are very high, reflecting the graphical fidelity and computing power that is available now,” comments Amer Walayet, Product Advisor Ship’s Bridge Simulator at Kongsberg Maritime. “We continue to improve the realism of our Polaris simulators in line with technology, using commercial of the shelf components, whilst keeping ahead of the competition in terms of realism by offering regular new updates to our SeaView R5 visual system and extensive model library and scenarios.”

(bymnews.com)

Kongsberg Maritime has integrated a unique Image Calibration Tool with its SeaView R5 visual system, which provides the highly realistic scenes created and animated by the Polaris navigation simulators. The cutting-edge new tool utilises sophisticated software techniques and algorithms to greatly enhance the quality of the image displayed by the projectors in the simulator.

SeaView R5, with the new Image Calibration Tool enables the simulation projectors to provide a near seamless display. The result is a more realistic scenario for the simulator users, which in turn translates to more effective training. The tool is capable of calibrating the picture displayed by all COTS (Commercial of the Shelf) projectors, which helps to improve installation flexibility on curved screens and to potentially reduce the costs of the projectors in the system.

The tool includes features such as digital keystone and edge algorithms, pixel positioning and repositioning, and colour correction. All provide a physically accurate image to the projectors, compensating for any off-angle projection, with perfect linearity. A geometry correction tool also includes network access to all Image Generator (IG) computers in the system and full overview interface to all channels in a multi-channel bridge simulator as well as file storage and back-up.

“With the latest version of SeaView R5 including this Image Calibration Tool, blending, edge matching and so called warping of the image, gives us almost unlimited possibilities. Now Kongsberg Maritime customers requiring theatre style visuals can utilise the latest in image calibration with a majority of the low, medium and high end COTS projectors available without impacting image quality,” says Terje Heierstad, Product and Technology Manager, Simulation, Kongsberg Maritime.

(nst.com.my)

The soft opening for the RM25 million academy, the first of its kind in East Malaysia and the second in the country after the Malaysia Maritime Academy (ALAM) in Melaka, was performed by the State Minister for Environment and Public Health, Datuk Seri Wong Soon Koh, today.

He said the academy, on a 2.8ha site, is equipped with all the facilities as required by the International Maritime Organisation.

“This include the RM1.65 million Poseidon Borealis Full Ship’s Bridge Simulator. A norwegian expert will install the hardware this month,” he said.

Wong said the academy, part of the United College Sarawak’s School of Maritime Studies, would be under the directorship of Capt Goh Chin Guan, an experienced seaman with the Shin Yang Group of Companies in Miri. Currently, 10 students have enrolled in the academy which can take in 400 trainees, he said, adding that there were hostel facilities for about 150 students.

Wong said the academy would launch a student recruitment campaign soon for a two-year diploma programme in marine engineering and nautical studies.

He said the programme graduates would receive the Malaysian Marine Department’s certificate of competency, a basic requirement for trainees who wished to serve on board ships as a marine engineer or a navigating officer.

“There is an acute shortage of qualified seafarers in Sarawak where not less than 80 percent of them are foreigners from the Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar and India.

“I’m confident the academy will go a long way in contributing to adequate maritime human resource development in the state and country,” he said.

He urged the local shipping fraternity to send their personnel to study at the academy to qualify for the internationally-recognised diplomas and certificates.

Wong also thanked the state government for giving an initial grant of RM5 million and the Shin Yang Group for its significant contribution for the academy’s construction.

Earlier, in his speech, Capt Goh said seafaring offered a challenging, satisfying and a well-paid career to young men and women who could assume responsibility at an early age and wanted more from a career than the usual eight-to-five routine.

He said a qualified cadet officer can expect a basic salary of between US$5,000 to US$10,000 while a captain can draw between US$12,000 to US$15,000 a month.

The cost for the two courses is about RM39,000 excluding modular courses and living expenses, he said. Sponsorships are available for deserving students, he added.

(bymnews.com)

The Norwegian Navy has signed a new Long Term System Support Program (LTSSP) agreement with Kongsberg Maritime, which represents the most sophisticated simulation support package that the leading maritime simulation developer has ever provided to a naval customer.

The agreement consolidates the Norwegian Navy’s numerous simulation systems in order to reduce contractual overhead, providing a more streamlined and cost-efficient cooperation. It covers full upgrades of software, hardware and spare parts continuously throughout the contract period, ensuring that the Navy will always benefit from having the latest and most advanced simulation technology, as and when it is released by Kongsberg Maritime.

Kongsberg Maritime’s LTSSP offers four different levels of support, each of which can be customised to the customer’s exact requirements. Operational benefits include fixed and predictable costs, software and hardware updates and direct connection to system experts and the Kongsberg Maritime Helpdesk. All LTSSPs are precisely matched to the needs of the customer and Kongsberg Maritime’s simulator development, enabling equipment performance to improve over time and ensuring continuity of simulator availability.

The Norwegian Navy LTSSP contract is a result of a long standing business relationship, which has included extensive simulator deliveries and cooperation between Kongsberg Maritime Simulation & Training’s sales and customer support division and the Royal Norwegian Navy.