Page 45: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2005)

July 2006 45 tunity to practice and develop their skills using bridge tools, such as radar and

ECDIS, in the safe and efficient naviga- tion of their cutter. The student can practice track routing, time and distance calculations, course corrections, with the cutter under the influence of a full range of environmental conditions. A special "E Coach" function provides the trainee the opportunity to independently practice various collision avoidance and maneuvering exercises which are based on maneuvering standards outlined in the COLREGS. The PRECOM crew developed various Deck Watch Officer

Personal Qualification Standards (PQS),

Ship Training Requirements (STRs), and Job Training Requirements (JTRs) using the simulator to validate newly developed training scenarios. Prior to the first time the cutter was underway members of the Great Lakes Pilots

Association participated in five days of simulator training in preparation for

Builder's dockside and sea trials, where the pilots are responsible for operation of the cutter. According to LT David

Schuler, Operations Officer, "The sys- tem was also used to develop cutter nav- igation standards, especially to establish system defaults (i.e. depth alarm warn- ing), which are currently used on the bridge".

A support contract with Kongsberg includes two weeks of simulator train- ing per year to bridge the knowledge gaps caused by personnel turnover and to maximize potential benefit of the sys- tem. And in the next few months,

Kongsberg will be tasked with upgrad- ing the bridge simulator to include the full range of dynamic positioning capa- bility, including control of the Bow

Thruster. "Early training has shown "mission rehearsal in Dynamic

Positioning (DP) mode of the cutter's operation will be essential", according to CDR Morrison.

Having personally commanded two cutters operating on the Great Lakes (Mackinaw and Mariposa) over a five year period, in my experience "driving" the simulator approaching the Mackinac

Bridge and up through Round Island

Pass or up bound on the Lower St.

Mary's River approaching the SOO locks, it was extremely realistic and it gives today's operators an advantage that didn't exist at the unit level just a few years ago. MACKINAW's deck officers can perfect their individual skills in a no harm environment and be much better prepared for the real thing when called upon to act.

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Salt-Away Products, Inc. • 1533 East McFadden Avenue, Suite B • Santa Ana, CA 92705 (714) 550-0987 • Fax: (714) 550-7787 • Toll Free: 888- SALT-AWAY (725-8292) e-mail: [email protected] • www.saltawayproducts.com

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Azipod Specific Confined

Space Training

As ABB Marine is the primary active supplier of podded propulsion systems, it has created a training program to ensure safe procedures for entering and working in the pods. The environment inside a pod is very demanding, as space is tight, with potential hazards.

In devising the course, the company had two goals: (1) to make sure that the customer knows how to perform a rou- tine entry in to a pod, taking into account all risks, regulations, personnel and equipment; and (2) to prepare the cus- tomer for emergencies such as evacuat- ing an injured person out of the pod.

To this end, an Azipod mock-up was built and the equivalent of a real size

Azipod (14 MW) was installed at the training facility. ABB joined forces with

Meriturva, a state-owned organization providing training in ship simulation, fire fighting and basic safety.

The core of the training is divided into two parts: lectures and practical hands- on training. The lectures cover legisla- tion, duties for all participants, entry procedures, traumatologic lectures and equipment presentations. The hands-on training begins with normal entries per- formed by the instructors. The level is raised on the move into maintenance tasks and to rescue situations. The key to working safely in the pod environment, the company stresses, is through proper planning. Even in a rescue situation, the task is easier if proper plans are already in place.

Split Ship Management

Training Center Upgraded

Simulators installed at Split Ship

Management (SSM) training center have recently received an upgrade to version

Transas 4000 - the latest technology available, which will make the training environments even more realistic. "There are many desktop versions available which give only limited simu- lation but at the SSM Training Center,

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