Recap RMSC knowledge sharing event at Simwave

Incident Analysis – of upmost importance for safety and learning

During the recent RMSC knowledge sharing event, our member Simwave welcomed us at their premises – the Maritime Centre of Excellence in Barendrecht. Simwave is one of the world’s largest training facilities which holds a staggering 59+ simulators and provides a unique variety of training and assessments as well as applied research for the maritime Industry.

For the event that took place on June 14 , the focus was on incident management; Marcel Kind, CEO of Simwave provided insight on the broad services that their facility has to offer, such as training and education, research on port developments, new technology, future fuels etc.

Collection of a broad variety of data

When it comes to incident analysis, to start off, a broad variety of data must be collected ranging from ECDIS data, weather info, radar data, communication lines, engine data as well as interviews with different parties, to get the most detailed understanding of an incident as possible. Aside from the incident itself, the applicable legislation and procedures will also have to be taken into account as it plays a vital role on the outcome.

With all the information gathered an analyst will review all possible scenarios of an incident to determine the cause and liability. Marcel explained that there are differences between internal and external investigations and on which part the analysis will be focused.

Visual simulations

With an example of a small incident, where a ship hit a jetty, he explained the overall impact which was severe. Visual simulations help to clarify what happened and what people can learn from it. These visual simulations can not only be used to prove what happened, they can also be used as a use case to avoid a similar incidents in the future.

Human element

The human element is a key factor that Marcel and his colleague Ryan Verhagen put a lot of emphasis on as incidents can often led back to human error. That is why gathering the facts – and getting the facts straight is key to complete an incident analysis.

Tour and networking

After the presentation, the whole group got a chance to see the simulators, such as an impressive 360º full mission bridge simulator, where it feels like you are at the steering the wheel of a ship yourself, a unique 360º Offshore simulator, a two stories engine room simulator and an inland vessel simulator; Simwave has it all.

The networking event ended with a great dinner as the icing on the cake. It was a great day to get to know our fellow members a little bit better, and we are all looking for the next opportunity to continue the conversations.