Page 48: of Marine News Magazine (March 2015)

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BMT’s REMBRANDT-INLAND Simulation Tool

Brown Water Training and Collision Reconstruction Taken to a New Level

By Joseph Keefe hen a new or expanded port is planned on an Another project attributable to him was the initiation inland waterway, how do you assure the civil of the completed Joint Industry Project “Improved Push-

W marine engineers and ship operators of feasi- Barge Connection System” that resulted in an improved bility and operability while at the same time allaying the connection system for inland push-barges on inland ves- fears of local residents that their quality of life and local sels. “The BMT Group is very proactive in supporting environment will not be signi? cantly spoiled? “Simple,” well thought out ideas that require some development”, says Paul Morter, Business Manager for BMT ARGOSS’s explains Morter, himself a blue water Master Mariner. He brown water version of their tried and tested ship simula- added, “We received the full backing, including ? nancial tor REMBRANDT. “You take the ships and the port to assistance, from the Group’s innovation board to make the them. This is exactly what we did towards the end of 2014. necessary adjustments to the software for this market.”

We delivered customer workshops and a public consulta- REMBRANDT has been in existence for over twenty tion for two planned overnight rest ports on the Rhine years, starting as basic, two dimensional software. Now transport route between Germany and the Netherlands.” a fully DNV type approved navigation and maneuvering

It was BMT ARGOSS inland waterways specialist Jo- simulator with high quality graphics and all the attributes hannes ‘Hans’ Veldman who identi? ed a potential market of a modern day bridge simulator, the brown water version for brown water simulation through his work experience of the simulator has allowed BMT ARGOSS to extend this with the Dutch inland waterway networks. capability into the inland waterways market. For this par-

Veldman has brown water in the blood, growing up ticular market, portability is as important as capability, so a? oat on the inland waterways of the Netherlands and be- not only was the software speci? cally adapted to the needs yond and has a broad knowledge of the European inland of brown water, but also the bridge infrastructure had to be waterway network, the locks and other structures found on fully portable and representative of the inland vessel bridge.

inland waterways. For example, he had signi? cant involve- “Developing a brown water version of the simulator ment in the development of the hydraulic lock leveling sys- was not without its challenges”, continues Morter, “Hans’s tem for the new canal between the rivers Seine in France experience was invaluable in this respect in ensuring that and Scheldt in the Netherlands. we got it right.” Inland vessel bridge design is much more

Image above: BMT Personnel direct simulation operations.

March 2015 48 MN