(From left to right) ATL vice president Gilles Gagnon, Reg Gladstone of the Coast Salish Employment Training Society; acting director of continuing education at Camosun College Michelle Traoré; Camosun College president Sherri Bell; ATL director of industry relations Tim Brownlow; and Geoff Wilmshurt, vice president of partnerships for Camosun College, celebrate a partnership of industry and education bringing a new marine simulator to the Camosun Coastal Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

(From left to right) ATL vice president Gilles Gagnon, Reg Gladstone of the Coast Salish Employment Training Society; acting director of continuing education at Camosun College Michelle Traoré; Camosun College president Sherri Bell; ATL director of industry relations Tim Brownlow; and Geoff Wilmshurt, vice president of partnerships for Camosun College, celebrate a partnership of industry and education bringing a new marine simulator to the Camosun Coastal Centre. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Camosun College’s new marine simulator to offer immersive training

Industry partnership initiative expected to boost local marine industry

  • Mar. 14, 2020 12:00 a.m.

From navigating rough seas to initiating emergency protocols, Camosun College students will soon have a marine simulator to provide a risk-free glimpse of a career at sea.

The new Navi-Trainer Professional 5000 simulator, still under construction at the College’s Interurban campus, is made possible through a partnership of education and industry, with $700,000 provided by Atlantic Towing Limited (ATL).

READ ALSO: Victoria Esquimalt Harbour Society supports Camosun students

“It helps us in the marine community and helps the locals as well,” said Tim Brownlow, ATL’s director of industry relations. “People from the Island will be able to train on the Island and be able to work on vessels such as ours.”

Through immersive, sophisticated technology, the simulator will allow students to experience different weather conditions, various ports, manoeuvres, speeds, and tug and barge handling conditions.

And with the simulator, Camosun can offer more courses, including a cadet and bridgewatch program.

“There’s a Transport Canada mandate for us to have these simulators in order to train marine captains,” said Gilles Gagnon, vice president of ATL. “This is a fantastic opportunity for us.”

The simulator is expected to be complete by the end of December. When finished, it will be installed at the Camosun Coastal Centre, located on Songhees Nation territory. Funds will be allocated over three years by Irving Shipbuilding in an agreement brokered by ATL.

“Songhees Nation’s economy was intimately connected to the Salish Sea for millennia,” says a statement from Christina Clarke, corporate executive officer of Songhees Nation. “Forming Salish Sea Industrial Services with Ralmax and Esquimalt Nation is one of our strategies for returning to the marine economy.”

READ ALSO: Two key companies join forces to expand service at Esquimalt graving dock


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