New MITAGS Maritime Simulation Training Center

Published Aug 9, 2007 12:01 AM by The Maritime Executive

Glen Paine, Executive Director of the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS), the Pacific Maritime Institute (PMI), and the Conference Center at the Maritime Institute (CCMIT), recently welcomed hundreds of guests for the Grand Opening of MITAGS’ Simulation Training Center at their Linthicum, Maryland campus, USA.

MITAGS is a world-renowned maritime training and simulation center that has been offering high-quality programs to both military and commercial mariners for well over thirty years. Today, over one hundred courses are available for merchant mariners from around the globe, with MITAGS being one of the few schools in the United States that provides all of the STCW-95 training courses that are necessary to advance from Ordinary Seaman to Unlimited Master. MITAGS also offers specialized expertise for a wide range of research and development projects within the maritime industry.

The Grand Opening was an important milestone for MITAGS and included the renewal, upgrade, and enhancement of the Institute’s onsite simulation facilities, which were all carefully implemented over a twelve month period. The implementation process itself included extensive research in the following subject areas:

- Available technologies.
- Vendor support capabilities.
- Overall quality.

During the event, Walter Megonigal, MITAGS’ Director of Training, stated:

“MITAGS has created a national asset, which in the view of MITAGS, is made up of the latest technological tools to ensure mariners receive the highest level of training available in the world today. Furthermore, within the next twelve to eighteen months, MITAGS’ challenge will be to connect the simulation structure here in Linthicum, Maryland to that of our affiliate school, the Pacific Maritime Institute, which is located in Seattle, Washington. When the connection is complete, the Institute will have created a true, nationwide Maritime Simulation Training Center that will provide a full spectrum of integrated training to the maritime community.”

MITAGS’ Simulation Training Center upgrade expanded the facility to include the following:

- Two Full-Mission Shiphandling Simulators (SHS # 1 and SHS # 2).
- Two Bridge Tug Simulators (SHS # 3 and SHS # 4).
- Six Part-Task Simulators (AWN).
- One Full-Mission Vessel Traffic Services Simulator (VTS).

All of the simulators operate with the Navi-Trainer Professional 4000 (NT-PRO 4000) platform and share common technological capabilities with an unrivalled level of flexibility.

The Transas Full-Mission Shiphandling Simulator is housed within a 360° curved projection screen that measures eighty feet in diameter and thirty feet in height. It includes an innovative, flexible bridge design and a series of enhanced Instructor capabilities. The dedicated Tug Simulator utilizes a 300° horizontal field of view and an unprecedented 42° vertical field of view. The six part-task bridges, and a second smaller Tug Simulator, offer 120° of visuals and are located in the fully upgraded All Weather Navigation (AWN) trainer. A Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) training suite and a twelve bridge ECDIS trainer, complete the current navigational simulator enhancements, which, along with all of the simulator bridges, can be operated in almost any combination for interactive exercises.

MITAGS also utilizes numerous Transas simulation development tools, such as Model Wizard and Virtual Shipyard, for the visual database and hydrodynamic modeling. These tools are vital for research, engineering, and development projects and represent a portion of the growing demand for simulation studies within the maritime community.

Neil Bennett, Vice President of Transas USA, stated:

“MITAGS is a dynamic organization that expects the very best and will always be pushing technological advances in simulation to meet the objectives of their customers. Therefore, the Transas organization has risen to meet the challenges laid before us by MITAGS, which have ultimately made our product better, our capabilities wider, and at the same time, has given MITAGS the tools and support they need to reach their objectives. Transas looks forward to a continued partnership with MITAGS, supporting them as we do all our customers, to always be able to say ‘yes, we can do that’.”

Please visit http://www.mitags.org for more information.