{mprestriction ids="1,2"}The agreement provides for the establishment of a Marine Propulsion Simulation Centre at MSU in Vladivostok which will focus on preparing staff for work on vessels equipped with Azipod propulsion units.

ABB will provide MSU with the equipment designed to simulate the operation of Azipod vessel electric power and propulsion equipment and provide further assistance with its installation, along with related software. ABB will also assign engineers and instructors to operate the simulator.

Sovcomflot will help prepare simulator specifications and develop appropriate programmes, with an emphasis on the operation of vessels in the Arctic and sub-Arctic marine basins.

It is expected that the new simulation centre will be used to train MSU students, as well as to retrain or provide advanced training to commissioned officers at different shipping companies. It will also conduct research on vessel power supply automation and electric propulsion.

“With the intensity of navigation in the Arctic and sub-Arctic Seas of the Russian Far East increasing from year to year, shipping companies now have a strong incentive to use the latest global shipbuilding technologies, as well as to develop human resources and scientific potential,” said Sergey Frank, president and CEO of Sovcomflot.

“In fact, the expansion of operations of offshore energy projects and the growing demand for navigation on the Northern Sea Route go hand in hand with the adoption of adequate measures for the energy shipping aimed at the unconditional adherence to high standards of maritime safety, environmental protection, and energy efficiency of maritime transportation.”

“ABB's technology and developments in the area of electric propulsion have a good record in operation on Sovcomflot vessels in the Arctic and Russian Far East marine basins, and we are pleased that ABB has partnered with Sovcomflot and MSU, whose Department of Propulsion is historically considered one of the best of its kind within the Russian system of maritime education, to create this unique simulation centre.”{/mprestriction}