Capt. N J Nair
“Safe Ships and Clean Seas” is the motto of Sanmar Shipping Limited, constantly striving to achieve the highest standards of safety and efficiency in ship operations.
Sanmar Shipping has once again proved its commitment to training and safety with the successful installation and commissioning of a state-of-the-art “Ship Navigation Simulator”. The system works on the “Navi-Trainer Professional 3000-Multi Station Ship Manoeuvring Simulator”, a cutting edge software package developed by Transas Marine of the U.K. Sanmar Shipping is the first Indian shipping company in the private sector to instal such an advanced training facility.
The Transas full mission bridge configuration consists of the entire spectrum of navigational controls to be expected on a ship, including a choice of three state-of-the-art radars, Automatic Radar Plotting Aids (ARPA), an Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), advanced
electronic navigational position fixing systems, navigational sensors, bridge and propulsion controls and full angle visual display and sound effects.
The software can realistically simulate an environment actually faced by ships at sea, whilst approaching or departing ports, anchoring, berthing or un-berthing. It has the capability of simulating various types and sizes of ships, as well as producing visuals and navigational charts for various ports including Europort, Sydney, Singapore, Gibraltar, Cologne and Calais as well as major waterways like the English Channel, Dover Straits, Straits of Gibraltar and Malacca Straits.
Handling a vessel weighing 60,000-250,000 tons can be daunting at the best of times, and extremely complex in the thick of marine traffic with poor visibility conditions, strong currents or boisterous weather. Navigating and manoeuvring a ship is a highly skilled science, and the navigator has to master the complex behaviour displayed by a ship in various situations.
The simulator mimics most of these complex effects, with the visualisation built upon complex mathematical models. All the visual scenes incorporated in the Transas simulator feature great realism and extensive details of the areas modelled. The system has a fully interactive instructor station, from where an instructor can control simulated traffic conditions and tugs as well as day
or night conditions, weather, winds, waves, currents and visibility conditions. The instructor can also simulate various navigational emergencies like propulsion failure, steering failure or other technical problems.
Special features include the capability to summon various types of tugs to assist in berthing or un-berthing a ship, and a full mooring station from where one can simulate dropping of anchors or mooring a ship to the berth. The system automatically generates a de-briefing report detailing the various actions taken by the student and where the actions contravened the rules of sea navigation.
Sanmar Shipping intends to leverage the simulator to train all levels of navigators in Ship Manoeuvring and Bridge Team Management. The system will also be used for competency assessment in recruitment and promotions. Sanmar Shipping plans to launch the course for its officers shortly, after obtaining a quality system certification for the system.
The system is compliant with STCW ’95 and DNV requirements, and has already drawn the attention of major customers including oil majors.
(The author is General Manager-Operations, Sanmar Shipping Limited)