Page 39: of Marine News Magazine (January 2014)

38 40

neath the deck. As the MMA Simulation Department likes to say, “It’s as real as it gets without getting wet.”

A separate observation room for the instructor(s) includes a workstation equipped with everything needed to gener- ate, edit, manage and assess training exercises. Instructors can adjust variables such as weather, speed, current, water conditions, etc., change ports or time of day. Other features include automatic competency assessment scenarios, and automatic recording of data in the course of the exercise, including main, audio and video log fi les; and the ability to display a track in the form of a succession of contours.

Realism and Real Value

It’s that tracking that Farber, 20, fi nds even more helpful than a simulator exercise itself. Even more than real world experience, which cannot duplicate this particular ability to armchair pilot, so to speak. Example in point: After a train- ing exercise, he explains, if the student has “messed up,” the instructor can call him or her into the adjoining observation room for a review of what just happened. “You can see the whole tow evolution from a bird’s eye view. You can see the barge, your track line, its track line, see if the barge is swing- ing, see the cable – everything. You can even go underwater and look back up. It’s unbelievable. You would never see that if you were out on a boat. It gives you a perspective you’d nev- er otherwise get, and it’s defi nitely benefi cial,” Farber says.

Similarly, proving that sometimes there IS a substitute for real experience is another advantage offered by the sim- ulator, which provides a digital complement to the acad- emy’s towing fl eet, which includes two 26-foot model tugs (Hercules and Alert), a custom-built 48-ft barge, MMA 400, and M/V Ranger. As part of their MT class require- ments, students learn the practical aspects of towing and pushing barges, as well as escort and ship assist towing pro- cedures, on the water. But working with model-size ves- sels is akin to practicing on half a basketball court. It’s the simulator that gives students the real feel and perspective of a scenario that comes from working on and with full- size vessels, says 2C Cadet Berendes.

As noted by former U.S. Coast Guard Commandant

Admiral Thad Allen, while giving the commencement address at MMA’s 2012 graduation, “Leaders are lifelong learners.” In short, simulation today, simulation forever.

This is all good news for the academies, where simulated training has been embraced and positioned as a vital part of a student’s education.

For his part, Mackey succinctly summed up the value of the virtual training experience while musing about how even today, even with internships, many students never “get to touch anything.” The simulators changed all that, and the resulting product – a well educated and broadly expe- rienced and confi dent graduate – is going to help lay the foundation for the next growth cycle in American shipping.

TUG TECHNOLOGY

Patricia Keefe is a business and technology journalist with over 25 years’ experience. She served as news editor, editorial writer and editorial director at Computerworld newspaper.

She has edited and produced content for Informationweek.com, Optimize

Magazine and Microsoft’s Windows 7 web site, and currently freelances for a variety of publications.

The cutting edge Tran- sas produced Tug Simu- lator in action at Mass.

Maritime Academy. www.marinelink.com MN 39

MN JAN14 Layout 32-49.indd 39 12/20/2013 10:17:17 AM