Warsash unveils Inmarsat bridge simulator
Warsash Maritime School (WMS), part of Solent University, Southampton, has become the only provider in the UK to have a dedicated Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) bridge simulator thanks to world-leading satellite communications company, Inmarsat.
Inmarsat’s generous donation will enable both students and professional seafarers to benefit from access to one of their GMDSS bridge simulators, offering a real-world view of how to effectively put safety at sea into practice.
The new facility will be housed in the School’s maritime simulation centre, the largest in the UK, where seafarers, ship’s officers, pilots, superintendents and students from around the world undergo scenario training in a safe environment, using the latest technology.
Kunal Anand, Director of Warsash Maritime School, says, “As an industry standard GMDSS bridge, Inmarsat’s incredibly generous donation is a welcome addition to our maritime simulation centre. Giving students teaching experience that brings them as close to the real-world as possible is our top priority, and with thanks to Inmarsat, our offer continues to grow.
“We will use this bridge as part of our GMDSS course, which will allow students to gain first-hand knowledge of how to interact with GMDSS equipment in the context of a ship’s bridge and grow their confidence in effective distress and radio communications at sea. Inmarsat’s donation will hugely benefit our learning community, and we are grateful to them for underpinning our future-ready ethos.”
The bridge’s installation was celebrated at an opening event at Solent University on Thursday 28 March 2024. Students, staff, and members of the Inmarsat team came together in the maritime simulation centre to celebrate the positive impacts of the GMDSS facility for present and future learners.
Inmarsat has been leading the way in seafarer safety for 25 years, when the GMDSS was fully implemented by the International Maritime Organisation. Since then, they have played a key role in protecting more than one million lives at sea every single day.
Talking about the important role that simulators play in maritime safety training, John Dodd, Director of Maritime Safety for Inmarsat says, “This donation reflects our commitment to promoting maritime safety at every level – not only through our work with GMDSS and our safety-focused connectivity services, but also through seafarer education and training. This is carried out in a variety of ways across the globe, but what we’ve seen is that while conventional training – through research, reading and study – will help you learn, retention of that knowledge is greatly improved if you can practice it in a simulated environment.”
Find out more, and book onto the WMS General Operators Certificate course, which offers the highest level GDMSS radio operator qualification and is suitable for professional mariners, here.
