MAIN HEAD Magsaysay takes the lead in training SUBHEAD Magsaysay Lines, headquartered in Manilla, Philippines, claims to have been one of the first shipping companies to have recognised the use of simulators in training WESBITE www.magsaysay.com.ph IMAGE: Captain Weni Sola Caption: Captain Weni Sola, training director of Magsaysay Lines October/transas engine room simulator Caption: detail from a Transas engine room simulator backup1/digitalshipimages/towing.tif Caption: Practising towing on a Transas simulator Magsaysay's first training simulator installed in Manilla was a two-ship navigation simulator from Norcontrol in 1984. The units were purchased at a cost of +ACQ-480,000, with no assistance from the government to pay for them. +ACI-It was the first digital simulator to have been operated by any training centre in the Philippines,+ACI- comments training director Captain Weni Sola. +ACI-The system was using a digital coastline generator. It was capable of displaying up to 40 target ships using 6 mathematical ship models.+ACI- Through the simulator, Magsaysay could offer simulator-based courses for Philipino deck officers, including a radar observers course and radar simulator course. Magsaysay Lines currently has between 15,000 and 18,000 seafarers onboard vessels at any one time, so the training responsibility for them is quite immense. It has 150-200 students at any time in the training centre, with courses up to 16 weeks long. Following the revision of International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) in 1995, the training centre was transferred to a 12 story building in central Manilla. A Kongsberg shiphandling and bridge simulator was put into operation in late 2000, along with a 6 station TRANSAS GMDSS simulator supporting live Inmarsat equipment. +ACI-We have become somewhat loyal to Kongsberg with their navigation simulators,+ACI- he says, +ACI-although we use Transas for communications.+ACI- The company now plans to install an engine room simulator, which will enable it to offer an integrated approach to both navigation and engine room training. The centre is also fully networked, enabling it to put courses out over the internet. It has plans to purchase an English language training system, he says. Magsaysay does not charge the seafarers anything for the training, which is provided to officers, deck staff, cooks and also hotel personnel for cruise lines. There is also behavioural training and management training. There are course modules on emergencies and crisis management. The training provided is both simulator and classroom based. Training is offered in firefighting, personal survival training and first aid. There are facilities for practical exercises in an additional 3 hectare campus south of Manilla and the company keeps a small training ship. SUBHEAD Using simulators +ACI-We have always been a believer in the value of simulators,+ACI- says Captain Weni Sola. +ACI-There are certain competencies that are better developed through the use of simulators, especially in terms of collision prevention. The most important part of a seafarers skill is managing a crisis.+ACI- +ACI-We just want to take advantage of the benefits of technology just to make our training better,+ACI- he says. +ACI-It depends on how you implement the courses.+ACI- The possible downside of navigation simulators is of seafarers losing their grip on reality, and thinking of the whole thing as some kind of computer game. +ACI-They forget about the real objectives of the training,+ACI- he says. +ACI-We never forget the fact that simulators are just tools for training,+ACI- he says. +ACI-Its hard to get the balance right. In our plans and programs we make sure that the instructors of the development team are properly trained and know their stuff.+ACI- The technology is used for assessing people as well as training them. +ACI-Assessing people using technology is also relevant and effective because certain areas,+ACI- he says. SUBHEAD Training onboard Training onboard vessels is a distinct possibility, he says, but does depend on cheaper access to ship-shore communications. +ACI-We are thinking about distance learning,+ACI- he says. +ACI-We are seriously looking at how we could make use of our website so that we could provide effective training to our people onboard,+ACI- he says. +ACI-We would have a combination of sending out CD-ROMs, and allowing students to send answers to their tutors by e-mail.+ACI- +ACI-A human tutor is very important,+ACI- he says. +ACI-We never lose sight of the fact that human intervention is very important. The instructor or factiliator will always be there.+ACI- A performance evaluation can be put together onboard the vessel, which is then used to decide whether or not refresher training is required, he says. MAIN HEAD Kongsberg and its simulators www.kmss.no Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems (KMSS) continues to take a leading role in providing simulator systems to train seafarers, along with a wide range of computer based training tools. The simulations are based on real ports, using data extracted from electronic charts. +ACI-There's a lot of emphasis on making the visual databases and the maps as accurate as possible,+ACI- says Knut Ljungberg, sales manager with Kongsberg. +ACI-Its very important.+ACI- The realism is enhanced through the use of hydrodynamic modelling, which makes the simulated ship rock in the same way as a real ship over the ways. +ACI-The operators should have a feeling that they're operating the ship,+ACI- he says. However, simulators will never be good enough that there is no need for live human instructors, he says. +ACI-You have to have some sort of a connection to an instructor, to give some kind of feedback. The instructor doesn't have to be present for the student at all times but its very important that someone is around to get feedback to the students before and after a training session. There have been problems with overly high expectations of computer based training tools, he said. +ACI-There have been students given a lesson on CD-ROM and told, told, come back and see me in 6 months,+ACI- he said. +ACI-This has produced some frustration in some students. They needed feedback from a human person.+ACI- The role of e-learning can do a great deal in the interim. Students need spend less time travelling to and from classrooms, because they can learn at home+ADs- they can spend less money on accommodation. Simulators are very special among computer based training tools because they give seafarers an opportunity to test theory, not just learn theory, he says. +ACI-You can train so many things that you cannot do in real life,+ACI- he says. +ACI-You can test things. It's very cost efficient.+ACI- The full mission simulators involve physical elements to enhance the realism. The student is normally in an enclosed room with a full size mock-up ships bridge, the same as found on a vessel. In front of the bridge is a projected screen, often with a field of view of around 120 degrees. The controls on the bridge +ACI-drive+ACI- the vessel, which in turn changes the view on the screen. Overall, Kongsberg benefits from the enormous improvements in technology, both communications, computer processing and 3d graphics. As personal computers become more powerful, it becomes possible to install the same software, which is used industrially on them. Some simulators work better than others on normal PCs, he says. For example, the GMDSS simulator trains the correct procedures to go through using normal GMDSS equipment, works fine on a normal PC, as do cargo handling simulators, which train the correct way to change valves and pumps when loading and unloading. Cargo handling simulators can be used to give seafarers practise unloading cargo before they actually get into the port+ADs- if the passage into a port is difficult, seafarers can run a simulated entry before they do it for real. A recent initiative from Kongsberg was Maritime-ecampus.com, an online portal for training systems in the maritime industry. It is intended to be developed a system which maritime training centres can use to build up their own online training programs for students. +ACI-Each individual school can push their courses through this,+ACI- he says. +ACI-They can store all the exercises on the server, organise the classes and keep track of the progress of the students.+ACI- One of the ambitions behind maritime-ecampus is to reduce the cost of training. +ACI-We know that the shipping industry has a problem with a deficiency of qualified officers and many people have told us the price for training has to come down. They need to be able to provide training more cost efficiently.+ACI- SUBHEAD Onboard the ship Kongsberg is beginning to look into the possibility of providing training simulators onboard vessels, now that the simulation packages run on normal low cost PCs. Reduced cost ship-shore communications will make a difference because it enables a shore-side tutor to be brought into the shipboard training. However Mr Ljungberg doesn't think that the bandwidth will be high enough to do a great deal. Distributing the training software onto the vessel will always be handled using a low cost CD-ROM, which can then stay on the ship. MAIN HEAD Transas and the RNLI Image: lifeboat.jpg Caption: can you simulate these rough seas? Transas, based in the UK, has recently won a contract to supply a full mission search and rescue simulator to the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The RNLI will install the simulator at its new training headquarters in Poole, UK, with an ambition to provide a worldwide "Centre of Excellence for Lifeboat Training and Rescue Operations." The system will simulate new lifeboat models such as the Severn Class and FSB, with specially developed computer models. Transas has also produced simulation programs for areas around the UK coast specifically for this contract. The RNLI can run many different search and rescue scenarios using the system, incorporating helicopters and elements such as debris, man in the water, realistic spray and rough weather. The instructor station can have a birds eye view, enabling the instructor to take in everything that is going on. A briefing / debriefing room is included in the complex, with full multimedia display facilities that can be used to play back everything that happened. The system can be developed to include new equipment and units as they come into operation within the fleet of lifeboats. Transas has been working with the RNLI for a number of years, having supplied mobile GMDSS packages which are used all over the UK and Ireland.