Virtual Training for Tanker Pilots Builds Experience, Protects the Environment

Protecting the health and safety of our beaches and coastal waterways – treasured sources of recreation and natural beauty – is a top priority for the oil and natural gas industry. To reduce the risk of accidental groundings and spills, prospective tanker pilots are using virtual reality technology to get extensive hands-on training before they ever take the wheel of a ship.

A state of the art simulator at the Alaska Vocational Technical Center puts students on the bridge of an imaginary ship and projects a computer animation of the Prince William Sound through the windows, which are actual huge, flat-screen televisions.

• A bank of 43 computers generates potential hazards, such as fishing boats, yachts, helicopters and tugboats. Instructors in a nearby control room can add to the complexity of a training session by adding wind, forg, icebergs, or floating logs.
  
  
• Quadrophonic sound creates a realistic environment, including the hum of the engines, flocks of seafulls and passing helicopters.
  
  
• The simulator includes four separate bridge platforms, which can run distinct training programs or be linked as different ships within a single scenario. Students can use the simulator to train on everything from a 60 foot boat to a supertanker.
  
  
• The cost of the simulator was $2.5 million.