‘North Cape Simulator' Officially Opened
The official opening of the Transas full mission bridge simulator in the North Cape took place on 26th March 2008. Installed at the North Cape Maritime School (NMS) overlooking the town of Honningsvåg, the NOK15m (USD2.95m) project has been 18 months in the making.
The simulator, which is designed to conform to DNV class A, consists of a single main bridge with seven projectors, each with wide angle lenses, projecting onto a horizontal screen of 240 degrees. There is also an additional bridge built for training tasks and dynamic positioning. Almost all the equipment included in the project is the same as that supplied to real vessels, and the layout of the bridges exactly replicates this environment. Transas has supplied their onboard Integrated Navigation System (INS) consisting of their own ECDIS, Conning and Radar systems.
A special Crisis Resource Management Simulator, integrated into the bridge simulators, allows training of onboard and shore-based personnel to assist with the managing of environmental incidents such as oil spills, rescue operations and evacuations. The simulator will also provide training for extreme arctic conditions and for the increasing amount of oil-related operations in the Barents Sea.
Interaction with different ship simulators, VTS stations, flight simulators and other simulators for shore-based facilities in the same scenario, gives an accurate picture of what the mariner will encounter when at sea. This allows different professionals to train together, promoting understanding, education, and problem solving.
