CASTINE – Three student crews from Maine Maritime Academy eased their vessels through the waters of New York Harbor Wednesday without ever leaving the college campus. The young officers were operating the three bridges at the new $800,000 navigation and ship handling simulator at the academy, which will help train students to command the vessels that carry cargo and people around the world.
“Leadership and command are difficult things to teach,” said Sam Teel, the chairman of the academy’s Marine Transportation Department. “How do you teach someone to have a command presence? This simulator lets them have that experience. It lets them try and experience that in a simulated environment.”
Installed this summer in the Bath Iron works Center for Advance Technology, the simulator is a new, self-contained laboratory which features three complete ship’s bridges, a large classroom with a wall-projected debriefing function, and an instructor work station that controls the scenarios on the three bridges.
The primary bridge features a screen that provides a 240-degree horizontal field of view and a bridge computer providing the crew with a 360-view of the outside of the bridge.
The simulator utilizes a bank of computers and state-of-the-art, video game graphics cards and seven wide-angle lens projectors to simulate New York and 14 other harbors around the world.
The system also allows the instructor to change conditions, weather, and other traffic in the water to create a realistic training exercise.
The technology also allows the programmer to change the type of ship the students are operating from a tanker to a container ship, to a mega yacht.
One of the bridges is a dedicated tug bridge which uses the same control console employed by the Panama Canal Authority for its tug bridge.
“This can recreate anything you can expect in real life,” Teel said during a demonstration on Wednesday. “It mimics it perfectly within the ability of the technology.”
The main bridge provides the full effect of being on the water, including the impression of motion as the simulated ship turns and accelerates.
The simulator was purchased with funds from the academy’s $22 million capital campaign and replaces the 10-year-old simulator which had many limitations and was not always reliable.
The simulator classes count toward student sea time required for a Coast Guard license. Students also ship out on the academy’s training ship State of Maine, and, on a commercial vessel, in order to meet those requirements.
“We can’t let students operate in New York Harbor,” Teel said. “It’s just not safe for trainees. The simulator gives them actual experience, on water experience and they receive credit for a certain amount of sea time.”
Although the simulator has been in operation since the start of classes earlier this month, the official dedication will take place at 10:15 a.m. Saturday during the academy’s homecoming celebration.
Link: Maine Maritime Academy
Link: Kongsberg Maritime