2019-2020

News Release

REF NO.: 34

SUBJECT: Marine Institute and Teekay Offshore unveil bridge simulation facility

DATE: December 11, 2019

Thanks to a donation of a ship’s bridge simulator from Teekay Offshore, the Marine Institute’s Centre for Marine Simulation (CMS) will expand capacity for state-of-the-art offshore and maritime simulation training in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The Heritage Bridge Simulator, manufactured by Kongsberg, is a class A ship simulator configured to the bridge design of an offshore shuttle tanker, complete with a dynamic positioning system.

It is capable of recreating the operating conditions, environment and scenarios that can occur during the loading and transport of oil cargo from multiple types of offshore production installations, including those operating on the Grand Banks. 

'Sustainable industry'

“We are very excited about having the opportunity to further enhance the training capabilities within the East Coast region,” said Paul White, managing director of Teekay Offshore’s  East Coast Canada operations. “Being committed to community investment and a proud stakeholder in the Canadian offshore industry, we embrace these collaborative initiatives to build on the overall goal of achieving a sustainable industry. 

“In addition to providing our Heritage Class fleet crews with the infrastructure to develop and maintain their ship-specific skills and competencies, this training platform allows opportunities that can be offered and leveraged to the global community.”

Safety at sea

Combined with the two other class A ship simulators and the ship modelling and geographic database development expertise at CMS, the Heritage Bridge Simulator provides an enormous opportunity to improve safety for people working on the water.

“We are thankful to Teekay Offshore for their significant contribution to the Marine Institute’s Centre for Marine Simulation,” said Glenn Blackwood, vice-president, Memorial University (Marine Institute).

“In any offshore operation, highly trained personnel are critical. Our centre prepares mariners to work in the challenging offshore industry with the most realistic simulated environments possible. The installation of the Heritage Bridge Simulator expands the centre’s infrastructure, expertise and capacity to ensure we have the latest technology and most competent people to make our industry as safe as possible.”

N.L. focus

CMS will develop a new dynamic positioning training and testing program with a specific focus on the offshore operations ongoing in Newfoundland and Labrador, in particular the shuttle tanker operations.

The N.L. Offshore Dynamic Positioning Accreditation Program will be based on a functional specification designed in part and approved by the industry participants. 

“The Heritage Bridge Simulator uses the latest ship simulation software, which allows for much more improved ship model functionality,” said Capt. Chris Hearn, director, CMS.

“The platform enables better integration with other simulators at CMS and creates a digital ecosystem where we can have multiple ships and offshore assets all active in the same scenario. This connectivity can also be useful for integrating other technology, providing a full-scale “digital offshore” to assist the ocean technology cluster members with product evaluation.”

Specialized training

CMS will enter into an arrangement with the internationally recognized marine and offshore standards authority DNV-GL to begin the process of developing specialized training at a level above the current “induction, sea phase, simulation” standard. 

The courses will be built around the current offshore loading system training at CMS and will make use of the new Heritage Bridge Simulator for competency assessment. The courses will be developed as per the recommended practices and standards and will undergo external audit by DNV-GL.

The new simulator will complement the 24 marine and offshore training simulators currently housed at CMS, including two of only five fully motion capable ship’s bridge simulators in the world.

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