SmartShip Australia - simulator centre

The requested time frame from the contract was signed until the centre should be finalized and ready for use was set to 10 months. In order to push the bar within simulation training and to fit Maritime Safety Queensland’s requirements, FORCE Technology needed to develop and customize a number of features, including:

• Stealth system that enables the instructor to ’fly’ around in the exercise area and monitor the performance of the trainees 
• Simulation of lee effects on tugs from large ships 
• Support for wave fields combined of swell and wind waves 
• Soft instruments for easy adaption of bridge instrumentation to different ship types 

So, in this perspective, the short delivery time held an obvious challenge. Fortunately, we have decades of experience with design and building of simulator centres all over the world. So the centre was completed on time to Smartship. 

Exceeding market standards 

The simulator centre, Smartship Australia, is unique on the market due to the way design, equipment and mathematical models in the software work together to create a highly realistic atmosphere and thus increase the degree of training transfer possible from the exercises performed in the centre. Project Manager Sverre Patursson Vange says, ’We are very pleased to have been able to fulfil all the requirements of Maritime Safety Queensland and at the same time meet the strict deadline.

But the great satisfaction in this project lies in the delivered quality to which we can honestly say that both software and hardware are exceeding the market standards. Further, we would like to thank Maritime Safety Queensland for a good and efficient cooperation, meaning that we are left with the impression that we have met their needs 100%.

Facts on Smartship Australia 

Smartship Australia is going to facilitate training of approximately 200 pilots and tug masters in Queensland. Among the courses offered by the centre are Marine Pilot Training, Bridge Resource Management, Maritime Resource Management and Tug Handling. Also port and fairway design studies can be conducted in the centre. The centre includes two full-mission bridges, both with a 240° field of view for traditional full-mission operations, and one full-mission tug bridge with 360° field of view.

Furthermore, the centre also includes two part-task bridges for assisted vessel assignments and instrument training. The primary full-mission bridge is equipped with two large bridge wings with 200° horizontal field of view and 100° vertical field of view. This unique feature is the first of its kind in the world and contributes to make the pilot training for berthing operations at Smartship Australia more realistic than ever seen before in a simulator.