School profile 

The Maritieme Academie Harlingen is one of the main suppliers of inland navigation training in the Netherlands. Offering a wide range of courses across different learning levels, the Maritieme Academie Harlingen has been a client of VSTEP for five years.  

Our team spoke with Mr. Jörn Josef Boll, Head of the Inland Navigation Simulator Center, and gained deeper insights into the relationship with our client.  

Why look for a simulator? 

According to Mr. Boll, the trend in education and training within the inland navigation sector shifted towards a competence-based educational training. Instructors at the Maritieme Academie Harlingen were looking for a way to enhance particularly inland trainings in a practical, hands-on manner.

They believe that simulators provide contemporary and high-quality education with the added benefit of having controllable and repeatable training scenarios that do not impose any risk for the crews and the vessels, and are integrated at a reasonable cost.

Education

How did NAUTIS Simulator stand out?

During a 2013 conference in Antwerp, the Maritieme Academie Harlingen decided that they would like to train using inland navigation simulators. Upon searching for options, they found that no company had an off-the-shelf solution for inland navigation and there were no defined products. Professionals at the Maritieme Academie Harlingen were searching for a user-friendly, reliable and watertight system through which flawless scenarios can be developed and executed.

NAUTIS Simulator provided a unique solution for the Maritieme Academie Harlingen, as VSTEP was able to work closely with the team at the academy and create a tailor-made solution that fit their exact needs. NAUTIS Simulator is the only solution on the market that provides realistic and advanced inland navigation features, and therefore, VSTEP’s solution immediately caught the attention of Maritieme Academie Harlingen’s personnel.

How did NAUTIS Simulator get integrated into the daily activities?  

Staff at the Maritieme Academie Harlingen have a defined number of hours on lessons with the simulator within the curriculum. The trainees start very young, with students aged 12 years old having the opportunity to take their first lessons on the simulator. NAUTIS Simulator is fully integrated in the curriculum of all the studies. Each year, the Maritieme Academie Harlingen staff train around 700 students in their simulation center, in addition to external trainees who are completing a higher education. These courses range from radar training and examination to tailor-made courses for shipping companies who want to train digitally.

By using NAUTIS Simulator, Maritieme Academie Harlingen became the first school to embrace virtual training tools in the north of the Netherlands. The usage of NAUTIS Simulator has put the school on the map, and the Maritieme Academie Harlingen can benefit from using the most advanced simulator on the market! The Academie has enjoyed more requests for trainings as a result of the integration of NAUTIS Simulator.

Coincidentally, NAUTIS Simulator was also found to be an asset infrastructure testing. The Maritieme Academie Harlingen is assisting authorities on their request to recreate certain waterways in order to test planned infrastructure projects. Currently, the Maritieme Academie Harlingen are using NAUTIS Simulator while working with the Province of Friesland on a simulation of the fairway to the town of Drachten.  

Previously, NAUTIS Simulator was used to test the usability of larger Inland Waterways Transport vessels on the Stationsbrug in the town of Franeker. A similar exercise was conducted to safely test the possibility to access a harbor located on the Wilde Greuns waterway in the city of Leeuwarden with inland vessels that are larger than the local regulations allow at this moment. Furthermore, by using NAUTIS Simulator, the Academie was able to implement a series of bridges in the city of Groningen.  

Highlighted NAUTIS Inland Simulator features  

When it comes to the NAUTIS Simulator features, we are very happy to learn that our client is pleased with our product. The Maritieme Academie Harlingen can enjoy the adaptability of the NAUTIS Simulator as the software allows for freedom with programming custom-made exercises. Furthermore, the vessels and environments are realistic and useful for trainings and enhancing competencies.

NAUTIS Simulator offers astounding graphics and high quality, dedicated inland navigation features that allow for custom training with elevated details. The inland navigation features have been designed as realistically as possible and give skippers exceptional training options, so that they can learn to navigate safely.

Experience with VSTEP Simulation  

VSTEP and the Maritieme Academie Harlingen enjoy a flawless relationship! After a long period of collaboration, we have been able to come up with solutions for different scenarios, which have helped with specific projects, such as the testing of bridges. We are able to efficiently offer assistance to our client, as a means to ensure that their experience with NAUTIS Simulator is positive and productive.

Thoughts and remarks for the future

According to Mr. Boll, in the future, automation will pose a challenge to the sector in the future. For this reason, VSTEP strives always to keep up to date with the trends of the market and adjust our solutions to always suit the needs of our clients.