New tug training package due to launch

A package with realistic Azimuth controls is soon to be released by VSTEP, the Rotterdam based developer of simulators and virtual training software.

VSTEP’s technical director Pjotr van Schothorst told MJ that even before it hits the market, the company has three customers on the waiting list for the new Azimuth training package.

Part of the Nautis virtual package, tug training usually takes place via two or more simulators, allowing the trainer or trainee can play the part of either the tug or ship’s master, with the option of a scenario including multiple tug operations.

‘It is a good set-up for the trainees to sharpen their communication skills, because we have found that communication within a group can very easily go wrong, said Mr van Schothorst. ‘To help this along, the trainees can, for example, play the roles onboard the different tugs, while the instructor takes on the role of a non-responsive ship’s master.’

He added that tug simulations are generally not so well established as larger vessel training packages. However, there is now a need for more training as the ships being worked get bigger and the tugs themselves get progressively more advanced.

Other training developments are coming on stream, which are useful crossovers from the leisure industry. For example, VSTEP can conjure up 3D for its simulations. Mr van Schothorst said that unlike the full mission bridge training where most action takes place at a distance, with tugs the action is much closer and thus depth perception is more relevant.

Mr van Schothorst added that VSTEP pitches its training products ‘more toward the middle of the market’, which gives the trainers the basics of a couple of computers, flat screen projectors or large LCD monitors, plus sound vibrations from a subwoofer which change with the ‘thrust’ from the engines.

‘It’s really all you want for most training, he concluded. ‘You don’t really need too much sophistication, as much of the effect of movement can simply be given by a changing horizon. It’s the beginning of a whole new, and much cheaper, generation of training products and this means they will be available to more personnel.’