VSTEP has been awarded the contract to deliver two NAUTIS Bridge Simulators and classrooms with desktop Navigation and Engine Room Simulators for the simulation centre of the Technical University in Varna, Bulgaria.

The TU in Varna is one of the leading maritime universities on the Black Sea. After a thorough and competitive tender process, the TU Varna selected VSTEP’s NAUTIS maritime simulator solutions for its simulation centre because the high-quality, cost-effective maritime solution fulfilled all of the TU Varna’s training requirements.

The new NAUTIS simulators will be installed at the TU Varna Navigational Simulation center and include a NAUTIS 360° full mission bridge (FMB) simulator and a NAUTIS 120° degree bridge simulator, as well as a simulator classroom with six NAUTIS desktop stations. Each bridge simulator and desktop station can be employed in common or special training areas including ship-handling, collision avoidance, ECDIS, Radar/ARPA, AIS and other navigational aids.

The simulators will include innovative concepts, not seen in the industry before. The FMB simulator can be turned into an azimuth tug simulator in less than an hour. The ship controls can also be easily exchanged, allowing the TU Varna to training on a wide variety of ships and propulsion types.

For the university’s Engineering Department, VSTEP will also deliver desktop five Engine Room simulators for advanced engine room operation and procedure training.

Pjotr van Schothorst, Director VSTEP: “VSTEP is proud to be selected by such a prestigious institute to deliver all simulators for their new simulation centre. This contract encompasses not only the delivery of simulators, but also a strong cooperation as TU Varna will deliver all data to help us to model new ports and vessels, and test them extensively. The Varna Simulation Center will act as a  maritime simulation hub for NAUTIS in the region, attracting a lot of attention from the maritime industry. This first order is the beginning of a long partnership.”

Mitko Aleksandrov, Vice Rector TU Varna: “We did a thorough investigation of the state-of-the-art maritime simulators on the market and selected NAUTIS for its high quality, ease of use, flexibility and cost-effectiveness. The user-friendly software tools provided by VSTEP will allow our students and teachers to not just become good sailors, but also ship designers, hydrodynamics engineers and hydrographers.”

NAUTIS is a new range of advanced DNV certified maritime training simulators that offer an affordable and effective alternative for training maritime professionals, officers and crews. With a full range of simulators, from desktop trainer to full mission bridge simulator, NAUTIS fulfils the training requirements of the maritime industry in compliance to the latest STCW requirements.

As part of the project, VSTEP includes exercise areas for TU Varna including the Port of Varna, the Bosporus and the Dardanelle Strait. Together with the state of the art technology of the NAUTIS maritime simulators, these exercise areas will achieve high-level realism and enhance the training effectiveness according to the latest curriculum requirements