The technology group Wärtsilä has been contracted by the City of Duisburg, Germany, to provide the latest in simulator technology for inland waterway navigation. The simulator will consist of seven full mission bridges in two locations within Duisburg; six at the Schiffer-Berufskolleg Rhein vocational college, and one at the DST Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems. This will form the most modern inland simulator training facility in Europe. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in the first quarter of 2020.

Wärtsilä  technology will enable inter-connectivity with other simulators, a universal hardware interface for future developments, and can be used for R&D purposes. It will also be utilised for advanced modelling purposes with other Wärtsilä tools, and for planning and analysation tasks.

“The more realistic the training, the more capable will be the crew, which is why state-of-the-art simulation is so important. Inland waterway navigation presents a number of challenging situations, and with this simulator training these challenges can be realistically studied and prepared for,” says Hendrik Posenauer, Senior Sales Manager, Wärtsilä Voyage.

“This new SANDRA – Simulator for Advanced Navigation Duisburg Research and Application – comes at the right time and will fulfil the requirements for giving future seafarers the skills they need,” says Thomas Krützberg, Head of Family, Education and Culture, Work and Social Affairs, City of Duisburg.

All seven bridges will comply with the latest CESNI (Comité Européen pour l’Élaboration de Standards dans le Domaine de Navigation Intérieure) requirements relating to standards in the field of inland waterway navigation.

Installation and handover of the Wärtsilä equipment will take place later this year.

Wärtsilä Voyage radically transforms how vessels perform their voyage by leveraging the latest digital technologies, to deliver a step-change in safety, efficiency, reliability, and emissions.