Kongsberg Maritime has successfully completed a Site Acceptance Test (SAT) for the delivery of an innovative Suezmax Cargo Handling Simulator (CHS) interfaced to the Kongsberg K-Chief-500 marine automation system, to the Turkish ship owner Gungen Maritme & Trading A/S.
The Suezmax CHS is designed to integrate seamlessly with the K-Chief 500, which is identical to the automation system installed aboard Gungen's newest Suezmax tanker, 'Ottoman Equity'; a 150 DWT Hyundai Suezmax. The unique interface between the two systems makes a complete training environment where the K-Chief system works as the cargo control room while the CHS represents the vessel system outside of the control room, fully controlled from an instructor station.
"By connecting the K-Chief to our CHS, reflecting the real ship's systems, Gungen has the capability to train its officers and crew on how to operate the automation system and learn cargo operations before they board the ship," explained Steffen H. Jensen, Product Advisor, Kongsberg Maritime.
"In addition Gungen will benefit from the possibility of running more intensive and extended training on the simulator than the trade patterns of the vessel will allow."
The new simulator features the same number and volumes of cargo/ballast tanks, whilst the pumps and pipelines have the same characteristics as the Ottoman Equity. Functionalities like inert gas and cargo heating are also included. The integrated system provides the same response to Gungen's officers and crew as they would experience from the real system onboard.
Kongsberg Maritime developed the integration between its CHS and K-Chief 500 to meet the challenging demands of shipyards and ship owners, giving users the possibility to train on an identical system to the one operated on their own vessels. The integrated simulator system is based on a modular design, so can be tailored to specific needs and is configurable from 16 to 20,000 channels, covering the whole range from low complexity alarm systems to highly integrated alarm and monitoring systems, with advanced process control and power management.
