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| Sanmar Shipping Limited |
| Advanced ship handling simulator commissioned |
| 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. |
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| 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) |
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