Singapore Maritime Academy meets class-approved status with Kelvin Hughes ECDIS training systems

25 new ECDIS training systems

Kelvin Hughes has supplied Singapore’s largest maritime training institution, the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), with 25 new ECDIS training systems in combination with Chartco’s Passage Manager in a breakthrough contract.
Kelvin Hughes has supplied 25 MantaDigital ECDIS Training Systems with Chartco’s Passage Manager to the Singapore Maritime Academy (SMA), the country’s main maritime training institution and one of only three training centres approved for generic ECDIS training by the Singapore Maritime Port Authority.

SMA recently updated its facilities, opening a new training laboratory at the end of August last year. “We are committed to ensuring that our simulators are always updated, so that our graduates always meet the exacting standards of IMO and industry,” says Captain Gopala Krishnan, SMA’s Senior Manager, SMART Center and Maritime Simulation Division.

Kelvin Hughes has provided the SMA with a competitively priced and flexible system that meets all the academy’s requirements,” says Lawrence Lai, Kelvin Hughes Area Sales Manager, Singapore. “This is a prestigious order for Kelvin Hughes, as it is the first time that the company has supplied systems to Singapore’s key maritime academy.”He added that the SMA wanted a ‘student-proof’ ECDIS that wouldn’t allow access to the main operating system or changes of parameters. It also needed to be able to connect to a vessel simulator, and Kelvin Hughes has upgraded SMA’s existing ECDIS master station with simulation software to output vessel movements to the individual ECDIS workstations

“With ECDIS regulations effective on a rolling timetable from July this year, owners and operators need to assess the implications for their fleets and make plans to integrate digital navigation into bridge procedures,” Mr Lai says. “Maritime schools have to equip their labs with ECDIS in anticipation of the demand for ECDIS training that is a central part of the regulatory requirement for all owners and operators. Kelvin Hughes ECDIS training programmes provide exactly the kind of navigation skills training that shipboard personnel need in the marine industry today. Our easily upgradable classroom-based training systems are a fraction of the cost of other manufacturers’ products.”

Source: Kelvin Hughes