EXPANDED VTS TRAINING IS A REALITY FOR SOUTH TYNESIDE COLLEGE

South Tyneside College, the UKs National Nautical Centre of Vocational Excellence, has completed the installation of a new Vessel Traffic Services (VTS) training and simulation centre, making VTS training simulations more realistic than ever.

The new simulation facilities incorporate the latest technology and increase the Colleges capacity to run VTS courses, following the IALA V103 guidance, for which it was the first to be awarded Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) approval. The new training facility, based at the College, will bring an added realism to the courses because all of the equipment is identical to that used in real VTS control centres.

The whole project has cost 250,000 and establishes South Tyneside College at the forefront of VTS training, attracting students from companies and ports all over the world. To provide the simulation equipment, the College chose Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems, the worlds leading manufacturer of Vessel Traffic Management and Information Systems (VTMIS) systems so that the facility was as close to reality as possible except for handling real ships.

The Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems VOC 5060 software family is used by VTS operators in ports across the world and this is used by the new College system. The simulator system exceeds IALA recommendations for V103 (1) and V103 (2) courses, the training standard for VTS operators and supervisors. The new facilities at South Tyneside College provide an integrated system that will make the training some of the best available anywhere.

Paul Hodgson, Simulation Centre Resource Manager, said: Apart from the layout of the building, everything about the new system is identical to the real thing. We have chosen world leading equipment and we will be one of the first VTS training centres to be using the same equipment found in many real VTS control rooms, but configured for simulation."

The suite at South Tyneside College uses the latest version equipment, featuring the VOC 5060 and VDB6070 Snorre" port database software used by VTS operators across the world. In addition to these is the Kongsberg Maritime Ship Systems Polaris ship simulator software, which completes the picture by integrating the VTS facilities with four Desktop" simulated ships bridges.

This means that the College can now provide training on the latest real-life equipment, with the best simulation software, giving a truly integrated system and complete VTMIS training environment. The new centre has VHF radios and intercoms, space for four VTS operator stations and five ship operator stations", all with two monitors showing radar displays, database information and environmental data.

The first course to be run in the new Vessel Traffic Services centre will begin in March and the first students to put the system through its paces will be existing VTS personnel with marine qualifications taking an induction course, just one of the range of VTS courses the College teaches.

Chris Thompson, Head of Marine Simulation at South Tyneside College said: By expanding our capacity we can integrate the VTS training with our bridge simulators, increasing the provision for VTS courses. The more realistic we can make conditions in training, the more effective the training will be."

In addition to the VTS equipment, the new centre also takes the importance of human factors into account. The debriefing stage is a vital part of the learning process, and each operator is individually monitored by video cameras and microphones for training and assessment. This is then played back to the whole group in the exercise debriefing using digital projectors. Reviewing footage is a valuable way to improve performance and show how the operators work as a team and cope in different and sometimes difficult situations.

Chris adds: Companies from all over the world send us their staff for training and with these new facilities, our existing bridge simulators and our range of courses, we can continue to give them the best possible training."

ENDS