ADPC’s Port Training Centre, in the heart of Abu Dhabi city’s Musaffah Port, is looking forward to registering record business in 2013….after an “extremely busy end of year”.
The Centre’s state-of-the-art ship manoeuvring simulator is particularly popular, offering real-time, vivid and realistic simulations of sailing a variety of ships along the new Musaffah Channel and using the separate 12 kilometre-long channel to berth in the basin of Khalifa Port, inaugurated on December 12th.
Masters use the simulator to familiarize themselves with Musaffah Channel, and Musaffah Port’s long waterfront. In addition, pilots are trained to take large bulk carriers and container ships into Khalifa Port, ADPC’s flagship operation.
One of the training instructors, Christopher Mendoza, says: “Interest from local ship owners in training their Masters for the new Musaffah channel increased dramatically when the old channel was closed in October. ADPC had to increase the number of courses from 2 a week to running courses every day”
Now the centre is training around 5 masters per week and the number of students at the centre will increase again when the new VTS (Vessel Traffic Services) simulator ordered by ADPC is installed and the HELM (Human Resources – Leadership and Management) training commences, during the second quarter of the year.