Wärtsilä to Supply Simulator for Inland Shipping Training

The technology group Wärtsilä said it has been contracted by the City of Duisburg, Germany, to provide the latest in simulator technology for inland waterway navigation. The simulator will consist of seven full mission bridges in two locations within Duisburg; six at the Schiffer-Berufskolleg Rhein vocational college, and one at the DST Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems.

The technology will enable inter-connectivity with other simulators, a universal hardware interface for future developments, and can be used for R&D purposes, Wärtsilä said. It will also be utilized for advanced modeling purposes with other Wärtsilä tools, and for planning and analysation tasks.

“The more realistic the training, the more capable will be the crew, which is why state-of-the-art simulation is so important. Inland waterway navigation presents a number of challenging situations, and with this simulator training these challenges can be realistically studied and prepared for,” said Hendrik Posenauer, Senior Sales Manager, Wärtsilä Voyage.

“This new SANDRA – Simulator for Advanced Navigation Duisburg Research and Application – comes at the right time and will fulfil the requirements for giving future seafarers the skills they need,” said Thomas Krützberg, Head of Family, Education and Culture, Work and Social Affairs, City of Duisburg.

All seven bridges will comply with the latest CESNI (Comité Européen pour l’Élaboration de Standards dans le Domaine de Navigation Intérieure) requirements relating to standards in the field of inland waterway navigation.

The order was booked in the first quarter of 2020, and installation and handover of the Wärtsilä equipment will take place later this year.