If a ship’s crew from the 1970s were teleported 10 years into the future, the ships of the 1980s would hold few surprises. The same could not be said about the last two decades. Today’s ships are almost unrecognisable compared to those of
the early 2000s thanks to the emergence of modern communications and navigation systems (including electronic chart displays) as well as electronic engine controls and a diverse number of emission abatement technologies below deck. And as technology
advances, the rate of change will only increase.
The regulatory framework for crew training, the IMO’s International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers (STCW), is struggling to
keep pace. A painstaking multilateral decision-making process means revisions can take a decade to adopt and even longer to implement into the curriculum. Meanwhile, the skills needed in the maritime workplace keep evolving, says Neil Bennett,
Global Director of Simulation at Wärtsilä.
“Over the last 25 years we have witnessed a continuing increase in the gap between competence provided by regulated training and the training required to achieve competence
on the modern equipment found on vessels in operation,” Bennett says.
One result of this lag is that ship owners are having to introduce their own training. Bennett notes a dramatic increase in the proportion of non-regulated training compared to regulated training provided to seafarers. But this opens the problem of widely
varying training practices, as Reto Weber of Chalmers University of Technology explains.
“Many companies, cruise ship operators for example, really want to see their seafarers developing and have crews coming
in for training on a regular basis. Others just want to do what the regulations say. They want the certificate but don’t care about the course content,” Weber says.
One way to improve the consistency of training is the
use of simulation to familiarise cadets with systems and situations. As simulation technology has improved over recent years – driven in part by advances in associated industries such as video gaming – it has become an integral part of
the seafarer training curriculum and a well-established platform for delivering essential skills.
Weber, who focuses on full-bridge simulation training at Sweden’s most widely recognised maritime school, lists many other benefits
for students compared to relying on at-sea training alone.
“They get far more practice. They face more situations and more challenging situations, and you can increase the difficulty as they get better,” says Weber.
Wärtsilä’s own offering highlights the diversity of simulation training available. Its Wärtsilä Voyage business supplies academies and ship owners with navigational training platforms and content based on its
Navi Trainer Professional (NTPro) systems and a Technological Simulator (TechSim) portfolio comprising engine room and liquid cargo handling simulations.
Despite the widespread application and proven effectiveness of simulation, STCW regulations limit how much of a cadet’s required experience can be gained in simulation versus at-sea training. According to Johan Ekvall, Navigation
Simulation Solutions Manager at Wärtsilä, allowing increased simulation time in the seafarer curriculum would accelerate and improve training and help to close the competence gap.
“Sea time is still very important,
as it provides experience that cannot be reproduced in a simulator, such as the psychological factors of being on a ship,” says Ekvall. “But the efficiency, quality assurance and the breadth of training situations a simulator can bring
to training is superior to training done onboard. We believe that more time in simulation training could shorten the time for both cadet training and promotions, and even improve the quality if the training objectives are clear and the training is
well designed.”
An ongoing revision of STCW may recommend that flag states allow for greater simulation time in training. But other challenges will remain. For Reto Weber, one such challenge is making sure that cadets can use
time in the classroom effectively.
“Although the IMO’s Maritime Safety Committee has approved guidelines for the standardisation of user interface design for navigation equipment, the bridge of today contains a wide array
of manufacturer specific interfaces. Companies increasingly want seafarers trained on the equipment they will be using. Often when people come for a course, they need time just to understand basic controls and where to find things on that specific
equipment. That limits the training you can do,” Weber says.
Emerging solutions may help solve this problem. Among them is the development of ‘distributed learning’ courses; cloud-based training programmes that cadets can access beyond the classroom. This could allow for the development of short pre-courses
to familiarise cadets with specific equipment types, for example. But more broadly says Ekvall, it will make it possible to train anywhere, at any time and with individually tailored content. Wärtsilä is working closely with some of its
major customers on pilot programmes for its cloud-based solutions, which will enable schools to provide access to simulators away from the classroom via browser on PCs, laptops, tablets, or mobile devices.
Preparing recruits
to operate specific equipment models, as opposed to generic radar or ECDIS courses, will require different content as well as more flexible delivery. Wärtsilä is now developing type-specific training packages, intended to train recruits
on the use of Wärtsilä’s wide range of bridge, engine room, and cargo handling solutions.
The first of these packages has already been launched, for Wärtsilä’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel supply
solution LNGPac. According to Neil Bennett, the company ultimately hopes to offer type-specific training packages for all Wärtsilä solutions, as well as using the packages as a base from which to develop training simulation for generic equipment.
It is not just the software element of equipment training that schools need to confront. Reconfiguring hardware to the requirements of ship operators’ specific requirements is another costly and time-consuming issue, notes Weber. Another set of
emerging technologies may soon provide one answer.
According to Vittorio Esposito, Technological Simulation Solutions Manager at Wärtsilä, the company’s forthcoming Smart Realities rely on “virtual
reality with a kick.” By combining a virtual reality environment with the mathematical, physical, and environmental models that power Wärtsilä’s simulations, Smart Realities will place students on a virtual bridge or engine room
and provide a more immersive experience than the joypad, controls and monitors that currently mediate the simulation experience.
Smart Realities will ease the burden schools face in changing configurations in simulator rooms, but
it will do much more besides, says Esposito. He explains that the new, cutting-edge tools will appeal to today’s younger recruits far more than more conventional methods. Thus, bringing exciting technology to seafarer training can also play
a role in making shipping a more attractive career choice.
Virtual reality, distributed learning and type specific training are just some of the emerging possibilities which will help prepare tomorrow’s seafarers for a ship
environment that is becoming increasingly complex. For Wärtsilä Voyage, these solutions form part of the Smart Simulation vision, explains Bennett.
“Smart Simulation is the next generation of our market leading simulation
platform, enhanced and redesigned for a rapidly changing, digitised maritime industry and the next generation of seafarers,” he says.
The objective is to provide ultimate flexibility for all users in the location, scale and
type of training they deploy. To achieve this, Wärtsilä aims to put its entire simulation and training offerings across multiple media under a single software platform – from traditional classroom-based simulation through to the virtual
reality and distributed learning models under development.
Seafarer training will come under even greater pressure in the face of shipping’s high-tech future and accelerating pace of change. A smart approach to simulation is
needed to help schools, companies, and new recruits keep ahead of the challenge.
Explore Wärtsilä Smart Simulation at the Simulation and Training page.
