Page 52: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q2 2015)

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SIMULATION TECHNOLOGY

Mind the Gap

The AMO’s STAR Center uses simulation to close competency and communication gaps at sea.

By Rick Eyerdam aptain Larry Reimer watches the radar and naviga- mate playing the role of captain and a rare female licensed tion charts arrayed in front of him while glancing at deck of? cer at the helm, Reimer watches in amazement as

Cthe screens ? lled with images of ? ve licensed deck the ? edgling captain skirts a gaggle of party boats up onto a of? cers on the real life simulation bridge deck above him. The shallow bank and zigs past without incident on his way up the captain and mates are trying to make their way into one of Delaware River toward anchorage. That’s because, only a few hundreds of simulated ports aboard one of hundreds of simu- months ago, a seasoned captain tried a similar risky maneuver lated ships that live in the massive array of computer simula- at this “place between the eights” and ran a very large simu- tion technology the Dania, Florida-based STAR Center puts at lated tanker aground near top speed. the disposal of Capt. Reimer and a crew of veteran instructors and assessors every day.

CAUSE & EFFECT ANALYZED

For each approach there is a script that Capt. Reimer fol- In the debrie? ng following both sessions, the men were asked lows to challenge his students up on the 360-degree visibil- the same question. What made you decide to accept the risk of ity bridge, which is surrounded by a massive holodeck dis- going that way rather than following the consensus course in playing, as if real and in exact size and detail, a mixture of deeper water? The gathering of drifting party boats was a key bad weather, wandering ? shing boats, medical emergencies, variable, noticed too late. But, neither had a defendable answer. churning seas and failing technologies. Today with a third The next question Reimer asked strikes at the heart of the 52 Maritime Professional 2Q 2015| |