Simulator upgrade at South Tyneside College

The upgrade project is being carried out during the summer and will include installation of the simulation systems and improvements to the buildings that house them.

“Although our simulation facilities are continually updated and improved, we understand the need to keep at the cutting edge of technology and quality in order to meet the changing training requirements in the industry”, said Paul Hodgson, technical and projects manager at the College’s School of Marine Simulation and Senior Marine.

The project will feature a total refurbishment for the main Polaris bridge simulator, which includes two full mission bridges and four part task bridges, with brand new consoles including K-Bridge and Polaris Radar ARPA upgrades and the introduction of Multiflex panels, which offer the ability to change functionality through software, rather than swapping out hardware panels. The bridge will benefit from a brand new projection system that is twice as bright and provides twice the resolution of the existing system, while all standard PCs will be replaced and the computer network upgraded from CAT5 to CAT6 cabling.

The second Polaris bridge simulator, which consists eight desktop simulators and a VTS simulator will move to a newly refurbished building at STC, which brings all School of Simulation & Senior Marine simulators into the same location. Kongsberg Maritime upgrades to these systems include integration of Multiflex panels and new radar simulators, in addition to the latest VTS C Scope operator software in the existing VTS simulator.

The School of Simulation and Senior Marine’s full mission engine room simulator will be upgraded to Kongsberg Maritime’s flexible solutions, which includes multiple use of touch screen technology. The engine room simulator will be upgraded with new Local Operating Stations for mimic presentations and 65 inch touch screens for presenting Kongsberg Maritime’s new interactive virtual engine room applications.

The selected solutions will allow different engine types to use the same hardware, as all dials, indicators, buttons etc are presented on screens and either controlled by mouse/trackball or touch. The upgrade of the full mission simulator includes Low Speed, Medium Speed and Diesel Electric Models. All four full mission simulator models (MAN B&W 5L90MC VLCC L11-V, Wärtsilä RT-Flex Container L11, M22 PC Ferry-IV and DE22 Cruise vessel-III) will be integrated with the main Polaris bridge simulator, enabling the college to provide enhanced team training scenarios.

The School of Simulation & Senior Marine upgrade project is a part of a multi-million pound, college-wide improvements program at South Tyneside College, and will result in all maritime facilities being housed at the same area of the campus, with its own Marine Entrance and Reception, separate from the South Tyneside College main entrance.