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Bridge simulator unveiled in Iqaluit
In-demand training could mean higher salaries for marine workers

Lyndsay Herman
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 3, 2013

IQALUIT
While bridge-watch training has been offered through the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium for years, the addition of a bridge simulator system will take training to another level.

"It is a lot of money but it is definitely worth the investment," said Elisabeth Cayne, executive director of the Nunavut Fisheries Training Consortium. The system comes with a price tag of $170,000.

"When you see the guys working on it, they are really quite excited. Just giving them that kind of experience, it's going to make a huge difference for them," she said.

The system set up for the consortium in the old residence of Nunavut Arctic College in Iqaluit has two bridge simulators and an instructor station.

While the trainee is in the simulator, the instructor can add obstacles such as weather conditions, other vessels, and ice for the student to deal with.

"It basically simulates being in the bridge of a boat," said Cayne.

"We have an ice module as well that will simulate all kinds of ice conditions which we thought was a smart thing considering where we live. And they do encounter ice, that happens, especially at certain times of the year."

One of the consortium's permanent instructors went to Seattle, Wash., for training on the simulator so the skills will stay in-house.

Cayne said many students have never been on a commercial vessel before and the simulator allows them to experience what the bridge looks and feels like.

"We were finding that this training is going to make it a lot easier for them to understand and to learn because it's hands-on," she said.

"There are lots of boats up here but they're not commercial. It's a little different having at 24-foot aluminium boat or fishing boat. There are a few things different, you might say."

The company that made the system, Transas, specializes in the design of real bridges and its background has made for very realistic simulation, Cayne said.

Transport Canada requires a certain number of people on commercial vessels to have bridge-watch training, beyond those specifically working on the bridge of the boat. As a result, marine workers of almost any position would be in greater demand and could net higher pay as a result of the training, said Cayne.

"You need know a whole lot of things (to stand watch on the bridge of a boat)," she said. "It's not just how to steer. You need to know all the different commands, what to look for, that type of thing."

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