Today, on September 19, 2018, Liepaja Marine College officially opened the Navigational, Manoeuvring and Engine Control Laboratory, the installation of which was successfully completed this summer. Liepaja Marine College managed to develop the laboratory within the framework of the Interreg V-A Latvia – Lithuania Programme 2014-2020 project “Improvement of workforce mobility and skills in Latvian-Lithuanian maritime transport sector ” (LatLitNaviPort).

At the official opening ceremony the college demonstrated the newly extablished laboratory facilities and installed equipment (simulators). The ceremony event was attended by representatives of Liepaja City Council, the Naval Forces, the Latvian National Armed Forces Naval Training Center, the Seamen’s Register and the project partner institution – Lithuanian Maritime Academy.

Deputy Director of Liepaja Marine College Julia Jevgrafova on behalf of the college expressed gratitude to all those involved in the project for their support, cooperation and accomplished work.

The Navigation, Maneuvering and Engine Control Laboratory includes two parts:
1.Ship Handling Simulator (Navigational Bridge) with integrated communication simulator;
2. Full Mission Engine Room Simulator.

Modules are integrated in one network with data exchange between the Laboratory modules during their joint work. Data exchange is also ensured between the Laboratory and external simulator complex of other institutions that allows doing of institution joint training in one exercise sea area.

When the joint operation between both simulators is configured, the combination of two simulators forms a single complex concept which enables simultaneous training of the ship crew “Bridge team and engine department personnel education and training” according to IMO and STCW requirements and recommendations.

The gained knowledge will be further used to train and assess the competence of ship engineering and maritime navigation students and working personnel, including officers in charge of an engineering and navigation watch.