From the command bridge, the forward view is distorted by windswept rain and turbulent waves. The master checks the vessel?s main propulsion systems as the chief mate operates a joystick to steer and maneuver the ship through Baltimore?s shipping channel to safe harbor.
These shipmates are navigating through another day of high sea simulation at the Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies in Linthicum Heights. The engine-steering simulator, one of two full-mission bridge simulators (day and nocturnal) at the continuing education center, is designed to capture and display accurate and realistic simulation detail for best in class training performance. “The simulators are vital and basic to training,” said Walt Megonigal, director of training at the institute. “They are the bedrock for safety programs in the industry.”
The nonprofit training center for professional mariners boasts a vessel traffic system, a full-scale steam turbine engine control room simulator, a maritime museum, a 50-seat planetarium and 14 computer labs. “Computer labs play a significant role to teach technology needed in modern maritime commerce,” Megonigal said.
Since opening its doors to students in 1972, the institute has grown to include more than 300,000 square feet of building space, with 100,000 square feet dedicated to training. The 80-acre campus also includes a residence center made up of 232 guest rooms, dining and recreational facilities and conference center.
Educational programs have expanded to more than 100 courses on the sprawling campus. Employment training categories include a chief mate/master management program, maritime security training, state pilot training, navigation and computer systems training, marine cargo operations and military sealift command for the U.S. Navy. Primary shipboard training readies mariners for high seas, Great Lakes, inland waters and offshore oil and mineral operations.
Graduate studies are offered to civilian and military mariners from around the world. Recently, maritime students from Malaysia and Bermuda learned critical firefighting techniques at the institute.
The institute is also home to the International Longshoremen?s Association Crane Training Center. Baltimore?s longshoremen are trained on a state-of-the-art crane simulator, which provides realistic training for ship gantry, dock gantry and mobile cranes. By design, Maryland tug and docking pilots receive training at the institute. Because of its vast capabilities, the maritime institute is a “national asset,” said Megonigal.
A longtime export analyst and consultant, Joseph R. Hughes? maritime-related articles have appeared in numerous publications. He is a native Baltimorean. E-mail your questions to him at [email protected].
