BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics, a subsidiary of UK-headquartered BMT Group Ltd, has announced a new contract with the UK’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch, acknowledged as a world leader in ship electronic evidence gathering, including VDR (Voyage Data Recorder) data recovery and interpretation.
BMT has installed its industry leading marine navigation and manoeuvring simulator, Rembrandt and will provide ongoing specialised training, to allow MAIB personnel to benefit from its unique attributes.
Richard North, Technical Manager at MAIB comments: “Rembrandt is a well-regarded and trusted solution, widely used by a broad spectrum of stakeholders including pilot organisations, shipping companies on-board and ashore, naval architects, civil marine engineers and port authorities, therefore it was a natural choice for us. A key and unique attribute of Rembrandt is its ability to automatically input a broad range of VDR data including 3D, Radar and bridge audio to deliver a more enhanced and accurate visual reconstruction. This is a critical for the thorough investigation of marine accidents involving UK vessels worldwide and all vessels in UK territorial waters.”
As well as installation of the simulator, BMT experts have provided training on the technical aspects and fundamentals of Rembrandt for MAIB personnel. This has allowed them to understand the process of rapid model deployment and to perform simulations for both visual reconstruction, root cause analysis and lessons-learned.
BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics is a multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy operating in maritime markets, the wider ports industry, inland waterways and offshore Oil & Gas sector. The company specialises in analysing and processing environmental conditions for offshore and coastal design and operations, and provides bespoke services in ship navigation and manoeuvring simulation, mooring analysis, emergency response and search and rescue. The company employs mariners and industry experts in oceanography, hydrodynamics and naval architecture. BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics operates from its offices in The United Kingdom and The Netherlands and supports its operations through the global network of BMT Group offices.
Phil Thompson, Managing Director at BMT Ship & Coastal Dynamics explained: “At a time when the shipping industry is starting to prioritise high quality electronic track data gathering for use in accident investigation, conflict resolution and lessons learned, we believe Rembrandt is well placed to support the MAIB. Rembrandt is a scaleable, skilled system which can be used via a desktop, laptop or as a full mission-based simulator and comprises a database of hundreds of validated ship models that underpins the validity of one or more ships in a seaway. Rembrandt continues to be widely used in many markets well beyond shipping, including high value, high risk sectors such as floating oil and gas infrastructure – a further testimony to its accuracy and robustness.”
Jake Frith
