Ship Simulator – It may not have the capabilities of a Transas Full Mission Simulator, the unique characteristics of a Tall Ship simulation or the pure fun of the nautical game Ship Simulator 2008 but none of the above have the real life data of google earth driving the background images.
TheMaritime blog tells us: [Continue Reading →]
Tags: · google_earth, ship_simulator, video_game
We have shown you the video game Ship Simulator 2008, a “realistic” (we haven’t tested this claim) simulator game for your PC, but today we point you towards another product from the company Vstep; RescueSim. Here’s the short description from the RescueSim website;
RescueSim allows emergency response teams to prepare for incidents in a virtual working environment. Under the guidance of your own instructor, any incident can be realistically simulated. Crews experience the incident as they would in real life. They determine the best response strategy, implement it and then observe the consequences of their decisions.
The training platform can be supplemented with industry-specific training modules that include environments, scenarios and equipment relevant to that industry. Today, modules exist for Ports; developed with the Port of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Harbour Fire Department, it includes training incident scenarios with various vessels and industrial fires.
While we still recommend any organization in need of this type of training contact our friend Tom Guldner at Marine Firefighting Institute, we look forward to learning more about this product.
If any gCaptain readers have experienced Ship Simulator 2008 or RescueSim, please let us know what you think!
Tags: · emergency_response_teams, Firefighting, fire_department, guldner, industrial_fires, industry_specific_training, Marine Technology, marine_firefighting, response_strategy, rotterdam_harbour, scenarios, ship_simulator, ship_simulator_2008, video_game, working_environment
Hot on the heals of the last video, Revolutionizing Life Boat Design, Royal Carribean and Oasis of the Seas release this latest installment title Simulator Training: As real as it gets.
Can virtual reality really prepare a crew to pilot the largest cruise ship in the world? Listen in as Captain William Wright explains what makes the STAR Center training so critical to the crew’s preparation before the delivery of Oasis of the Seas.
New to the Oasis of the Seas website is a countdown to its homeport arrival, now standing at 18 days, 15 hours, 26 minutes and 31 seconds. No wait, 30 seconds. No. Well you get the idea.
I don’t know about you but the suspense is kiling me!
Tags: · oasis of the seas, Royal Caribbean, ship_simulator
After a career at sea and a period of piloting I tried a tour in academia. I was surprised to find that maritime academies, along with other educational institutions were using classrooms furnished with middle school furnishings and tools. Are we teaching kids or future professionals I thought? Mostly the furnishings are still in use. If you treat students like kids, they will act like kids. Therefore, tools and the environment are important.
Involved in continuing education, simulators attracted me. At Marine Safety International, then the fore runner in maritime simulation the concept of simulation (make believe with electronics) was interesting, but unreal. Nature can not be simulated. For the next 10 years I visited simulators in Kings Point, New London, Piney Point, Toledo and San Diego. Each facility emulated the other and the concept of instruction was the same and teaching was partially effective. A critiques of students indicated, it’s great, but not the same.
Why doesn’t simulation prepare one for the real experience? [Continue Reading →]
Tags: · john denham, ship_simulator
The software development company, PlanetInAction, has just released a free ship simulator game that leverages the Google Earth plugin and presents it as the platform for this free game. The game is a case study / technology show piece that demonstrates just what can be achieved with Google Earth and, interestingly enough, is called “Ships”.
Ships is a simulation program that allows you to get to be the helmsman of your own fleet of ships – including barges, cargo ships, container ships, and even a cruise ship (the QM 2) – that you can steer anywhere in the world with included 3D graphics and sound effects.
What’s interesting to us is that the game was developed to show off the capabilities of the Google Earth platform and it just so happens that the the way they chose to do it was to allow gamers to control a 3D ship anywhere in the world.
Be sure check out the game for yourself at HERE.
More reading at the Google Earth Blog
Tags: · google_earth, google_maps, ship_simulator, video_game, Web 2.0
Currently all mariners are familiar with the large full mission ship simulators like the one pictured above. Some have even played with either purpose built or recreational PC based simulators but each of these three types have inherent problems. The full mission simulators are very expensive, the purpose built ones lack realism and the recreational games are mostly avoided because, as professionals performing life critical operations in dangerous environments, we need assurance that game play is true to life. Even the slightest differences in maneuvering characteristics between the game and real life ship handling can make simulated practice detrimental to job performance.
Below is a video I found YouTube. It shows a simulated disaster situation played out on the game Ship Simulator 2008. Like a low budget Hollywood movie it contains numerous errors and I doubt it was produced by a licensed mariner but that’s not the point. This video contains realistic images and sound all produced by game that costs less than $40 US
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Until the game makers have funding to obtain regulatory approval or the industry commissions game developers to produce one of their own, Ship Simulator 2008, will not be the replacement for time consuming trips to expensive training facilities. Let’s not let this problem stop us.
Ask the US Navy what has been the best recruiting device of the past 20 years and they will tell you it’s the movie Top Gun
Full mission simulators and manned ship models are likely the only solution to technical skills like ship handling and dynamic positioning but lack of skill is not the industry’s largest problem. The vast majority of large casualties are attributed to human error and the error chain leading up to the actual incident. The Titanic, Exxon Valdez and more recently the Pasha Bulker, Empress Of The North and Cosco Busan all suffered casualties due to the dynamic of trust between the Master (or pilot) and the watshstanders. Let’s use this game to promote not just Bridge Team Management but the relationship of power on the bridge and other common pitfalls a mariners experience during the course of their career. Let’s use our collective experience to create real life scenarios mimicking those watches when you had to make a difficult decision then allow our fellow mariner to face your nightmare on the simulator. The best and worst outcomes could easily be shared online for comments and viewing.
, record your own scenario and post it to our forum. Be sure to ask the hard questions.Tags: · Marine Incidents, ship_simulator, ship_simulator_2008, Training
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Other: Leave Your Comments Below [Continue Reading →]
Tags: · dynamic positioning, maritime_training, ship_simulator, Training
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