Singapore Centre of Excellence in Maritime Safety Chooses Wärtsilä Sim Platform

Wärtsilä Voyage will deliver its next generation navigational simulator for Singapore’s Centre of Excellence in Maritime Safety (CEMS) to prepare seafarers for shore-based remote management of vessels and autonomous ship operations. CEMS is a collaboration between the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) and Singapore Polytechnic, supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The simulation platform will be based on the Wärtsilä NTPRO (Navi-Trainer Professional 5000) Navigational Simulator in a shore-based operational configuration.

CEMS will execute research and development in multiple skills with the support of augmented, mixed, and virtual reality. The project will focus on new modelling and simulation tools that enhance marine and navigational safety, the development of a complex port environment, as well as validation of new operational concepts, particularly with smart and autonomous ships.

Wärtsilä Voyage’s collaboration with CEMS covers three core disciplines of seascape, landscape and mathematical modelling of all relevant vessel types for training shore-based navigation officers, as well as the development of training material for remote operations. These include areas such as assistive technologies for use onboard ships and during training, simulators to study human behaviour and competency to enhance the safety of navigation, infusing wearable technologies, and co-develop scenario-based “Standards Validation” simulation for autonomous vessel research. The research concepts and projects will be conducted over the next two years.

Recognizing the long-term need of creating an environment to promote data-driven innovation and developments in the maritime sectors, the Singapore Maritime Institute has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding agreement with Wärtsilä Voyage. Under this, the two parties will continue to cooperate and identify industry challenges that can be resolved through data-driven tools, applications, and technologies, as well as provide researchers with relevant and anonymised data to support their work under SMI’s Maritime AI R&D Programme.

“AI and simulation tools not only provide us with the unique platform to safely test and validate a myriad of situations and environments before going for actual sea trails, but they also give mariners ample opportunity to get used to the new technology without any risk,” said Pierre Guillemin, Vice President, Technology at Wärtsilä Voyage. “We, therefore, see this collaboration as the perfect opportunity and example of how different stakeholders within the industry can come together to leverage big data and combine their expertise to develop and implement smarter technologies faster, and catapult shipping’s transition towards sustainability.”