motor. This was a unique freedom denied our predecessors whose only
resources very often were knowledge and chalk. Our challenge today is to manage our new
resources as efficiently as our predecessors managed theirs.
To do this, we need to enhance the mechanisms for the training and
education of simulator lecturers. Already simulators are used for many applications other
than traditional seafarer training. These applications include research into port design,
casualty investigation, Vessel Traffic Systems Operators training, pleasure boat operator
training etc. The simulator lecturer must evolve from being a mariner first to being a
facilitator and researcher. This is not a painless transition, nor is it one where the
methodology is known, but it is an evolution that the meetings of the INSLC actively
promote, not merely with the interaction at their sessions but at least as importantly at
the social functions and the working groups that are a prominent feature of the event. New
links are made and cooperative ventures are initiated.
Whatever solutions are eventually found must deal with the wider
implications of the simulator revolution. The following are some of the salient issues
that may well become subjects of future debate at INSLC.
Diversity of machines
The diversity of simulator design will need to be either tolerated or
tamed. Visual adjuncts to radar simulators are increasingly being developed by
institutions themselves. Such moves will generate many home grown simulators with varied
and localised primary objectives, whose inclusion into the international environment will
need to be accommodated. Hence, the tolerance alternative will need some agreement on a
functional specification and minimum commonality of training standards for the primary
STCW requirements.
The taming alternative will demand a precise and restrictive mandated
international specification. Whichever route is taken will also need to accommodate the
growing domain of simulator applications which help to meet the expenses of an inherently
complex and varied resource. In practice, this may be a difficult alternative as its
implementation may seem to be stifling innovation at a time when the exploding growth of
technology requires innovation to be encouraged and managed. Existing manufacturers
however, may well find this an attractive protective market mechanism,
As desktop simulators, Virtual Reality systems, and radar recorders
make part task training a sensible precursor to a totally integrated facility, the
analysis of tasks and client objectives and the need for potential refinement of the
client's operational methods may become a recognised part of the simulator lecturer's
responsibilities.
Assurance of Quality
STCW95 imposes upon educational institutions various requirements, the
first of which are to be met by 1 February 1997, while by 1 August 1998, all new entrants
must be trained to STCW95 standards and national administrations must provide documents of
compliance. All transitional arrangements cease by 1 February 2002. An important element
of the early requirements are the need for the provision of a quality assurance system in
maritime training institutions.
IMLA/INSC is probably best placed to develop the criteria needed for
such an exercise, and to provide access to a body of experts that can conduct independent
assessment. It is clear that simulation has to be integrated into the structure of
maritime training more closely than it has been to date. Hence, the composite role that
IMLA and INSLC can play will have particular significance.
