Knut from Kongsber knut.ljungberg@kmss.no MAIN HEAD Kongsberg and its simulators 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. "There's a lot of emphasis on making the visual databases and the maps as accurate as possible," says Knut Ljungberg, sales manager with Kongsberg. "Its very important." 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. "The operators should have a feeling that they're operating the ship," he says. However, simulators will never be good enough that there is no need for live human instructors, he says. "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. "There have been students given a lesson on CD-ROM and told, told, come back and see me in 6 months," he said. "This has produced some frustration in some students. They needed feedback from a human person." 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; 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. "You can train so many things that you cannot do in real life," he says. "You can test things. It's very cost efficient." The full mission simulators involve physical elements to enhance the realism. The student is normally locked away in a 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 "drive" 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; 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. "Each individual school can push their courses through this," he says. "They can store all the exercises on the server, organise the classes and keep track of the progress of the students." One of the ambitions behind maritime-ecampus is to reduce the cost of training. "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." 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. SEND PROOF COPY knut.ljungberg@kmss.no Copy in Rita Krathe.