Wärtsilä will supply one of Europe’s most advanced simulators for a new Finnish maritime training facility.
Technology group Wärtsilä will supply its latest simulator technology for a new maritime training centre in Finland. The order has been placed by the South-Eastern Finland University of Applied Sciences (Xamk) and the Joint Authority of Education of Kotka-Hamina Region (Ekami).
Olli-Pekka Brunila, Director of Education at Xamk, says that the centre plays an important role, because many critical operations cannot be safely practiced on an actual vessel.
This new learning environment provides students with a unique opportunity to develop their practical skills and prepare for demanding maritime tasks. We are fortunate to have Wärtsilä’s highly advanced simulator technology as the basis for this training.
Realistic environment
The training centre will have two large and three medium sized full mission navigational bridges with 360-degree visualisation. They include digital chart tables as well as a separate bridge wing console operated in virtual reality.
For technical training, the centre will have two engine room simulators implemented with two fully loaded control rooms. The simulators come with touchscreen technology, making it easy to swap between any of the engine room models.
Ola Lundqvist, Product Sales Manager, Voyage Services at Wärtsilä, comments that Wärtsilä are proud to be supporting Xamk and Ekami with their goal of preparing students for their future maritime careers.
The state-of-the-art Wärtsilä simulator system will be one of the largest and most advanced in Europe. It will enable students to obtain the most realistic level of operational experience possible in an educational environment.
The simulator will be installed in Xamk’s new campus in Kotka, Finland, where part of Ekami´s maritime training will also take place in the future.
Command centre for oil spill response
In addition to the various system features, there will be several instructor and debriefing rooms capable of working with any part of the simulator. There will also be a dedicated command centre for vessel traffic service, oil spill response, search and rescue, terminal cargo office, and more training applications.
Hannu Mäntymaa, Vice President for Voyage Services at Wärtsilä and Managing Director of Wärtsilä Finland, comments:
With decarbonisation as a core focus for the industry, maritime organisations are looking for unique end-to-end solutions which enable them to optimise their vessel and port operations. This new maritime training centre from Xamk and Ekami will play an integral role in unlocking synergies here. After all, if organisations are going to benefit from future fuel engines, for example, crews must be highly competent, operate with the highest levels of safety and have access to continuous training programmes.
The Wärtsilä equipment is scheduled for delivery in August 2024. Xamk is an existing customer of Wärtsilä, having had another one of its training simulators in use for more than 20 years.
