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1 INTRODUCTION
ThePortugueseNavalAcademyasamilitaryschool
with an university status, is integrated in the
frameworkof the public higher education system in
Portugal (Assembleia da República, 2014). Its main
objective is to prepare highly qualified graduates
students to the Portuguese fleet ships. The training
providedbythi
sacademytothefutureNavyOfficers
isnotrestrictedtoacademiccomponents.TheNaval
Academy students, the “cadets”, are endowed with
academic knowledge and with military and naval
skillsthatareneededfortheaccomplishmentoftheir
futurefunctions.
The Naval Academy have installed a modern
radar, manoeuvring and navigation simulator since
2004/
2005.TheNavigationSimulator(NAVSIM)have
an essential role for the academic and military
training. First of all, it helps to consolidate all the
theoretical knowledge previously learned, at the
classrooms. Then, it allows to training in scenarios
moresimilartowhatwillbefoundonboard.Andlast
but not least
, it helps to improve the team building
and relationships among the members of the team
thataretraining,whichallowstoachievethesessions
goalsfasterandmoreefficiently.
TheNAVSIMismainlyusedbythecadetsofthe
NavalAcademy,over65%/75%ofthetime,excluding
themaintenanceperiods(seeta
ble1)(Bué,2016).The
teams of the warships and some external entities to
the Portuguese Navy are also training in NAVSIM
which is a crucial tool to leadership purposes and
team building improvement. The correct use of the
maximum capacities of the NAVSIM allows the
trainingtea
mstoexpandtheirexpertiseandminimize
the errors associated with the lack of practice, with
benefitstotheirdailylivesonboard.
Navigation Simulator: Professional and Academic
Learning Tool for the Students of the Portuguese Naval
Academy
A.P.LopesFerreira,I.M.Bué&C.F.Lopes
PortugueseNavalSchool,Lisbon,Portugal
ABSTRACT:The PortugueseNaval Academyisa militaryschool withanuniversity status andisequipped
with one modern navigation and maneuvering simulator. The Navigation Simulator (NAVSIM) plays an
essentialroleintheacademictrainingfortheNavalAcademyandforitscadets,thatareusingthi
scapacity
sincetheirfirstacademicyearasalearningtool.Identifyingthenon‐technicalskillsthatcouldbetrainedand
focusingonthespecifictrainingofthetechnicalskillsisparamount,inordertomaximizethetrainingsessions
for each cadet’s year. Theassessment of statistical data referring to the last 6 years is import
ant to identify
wherethereare gapsintheexercises,aswellashowthemidshipmanareprepared toperformfunctions of
watchkeepingontheshipsfleet.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 11
Number 1
March 2017
DOI:10.12716/1001.11.01.17
142
Table1.TheusersofNAVSIM.Source(Bue,2016)
TheNAVSIMhasimmeasurablecapabilitiesandis
available24hoursperday.Still,isvitaltoproducea
model to clarify the academic and professional
trainingforthecadets.Inthiscontext,thisstudywill
provide one conceptual basis, substantiated on 6
years of exercises records at the NAVSIM and
in
nationalreferencesthataddressthisissue.TheNaval
Academyhistoricalcontextwillbepresented,aswell
asitseducationalmilitaryandcivilianoffers.
Thesimulationasatrainingandlearningtoolwill
be discussed, followed by a more comprehensive
approach to the reality of the education in naval
academy.
The military training in simulated
environments will be presented, with specific
definitions and models, which will conduct to the
development of technical and non‐technical skills.
Finally, the statistical data from the exercises
conductedintheNAVSIMforthelast6yearswillbe
analysedandtheresultsandconclusionsof
thisstudy
willbepresented.
2 NAVALACADEMY
The Naval Academy is a Military higher education
establishment,withthemissionofteachingthecadets
tobethefuturenavyofficers,enablingthemtocarry
out the military duties assigned, conferring the
necessary competences to carry out the missions of
the
Portuguese Navy and promote the individual
development for the exercise of the functions of
command, direction and leadership (Assembleia da
República,2001).
2.1 Historicalcontext
The firstʺschoolʺ of Portuguese navigators was the
schoolofSagres,whichisalegendaryinstitutionthat
symbolizesallwhostudiedtheartsrelatedtothe
sea
andwithmaritimenavigation(Salgado,2013).Later,
in 1779, the “Academia Real da Marinha” (Royal
AcademyoftheNavy)wasestablishedinLisbon,with
academic training purposes for the military and
merchantnavies.Duetothenotexistenceofamilitary
framework for the future Navy Officers, the
“Academia Real dos Guarda‐marinhas” (Royal
Academy of Midshipman) was established (Salgado,
2013).In the 23rdAprilof1845 theNavalAcademy
wascreatedbyD.Maria II(PortugueseQueen),and
lateron,in2001isrecognizedasamilitaryuniversity
(Sousa,1945).
2.2 Militaryandeducationalprograms
The Naval
Academy offers an Integrated Masters
Course (IMC) with five academic year duration,
according to the provisions of the Bologna process,
giving the graduate students a masterʹs degree in
Naval Military Sciences in one of the following
courses: Navy, Naval Administration, Marines,
Medicine and Naval Engineering, regarding the
Mechanicsand
Electronicsfields.
DuringtheIMC,thenavalacademydevelopsinits
students several skills, such as: Naval Military
Training, Sailor Training, Physical Education and
Sports, Leadership Training, Cultural and Social
Activities and Sea Training. The specific training
areasareconductedatsea,duringtheweekendsand
in the summer classes dispersal,
in the fleet ships.
ThisinstitutionisasubscriberoftheERASMUSletter,
withmorethan70militaryandcivilianteachers,who
haveawideprofessionalexperience.
TheNavalAcademymadeavailablesomespecific
degrees and courses, and they are not exclusive for
themilitarystaff,suchas:
PhD
inNavalHistory;
MastersinNaval History, inassociationwith the
FacultyofLettersoftheUniversityofLisbon;
Master in Information, Security and Law in
Cyberspace,inassociationwiththeFacultyofLaw
oftheUniversityofLisbonandInstitutoSuperior
Técnico(CivilEngineeringFaculty);
Mastersin
HyperbaricandUnderwaterMedicine;
MastersinHydrographicEngineering;
MasterinNavigationandGeomatics;
Masters in Military History, in association with
seveninstitutions(EscolaNaval,2016).
Finally,theNavyResearchCentre(CINAV(Centro
deInvestigaçãoNaval–Portuguesedesignation)),whose
mission is to promote Research, Development and
Innovation in the areas of interest to the Navy, is
physically installed in the Naval Academy. Its main
researchlinesare:signalprocessing,mobilerobotics,
decisionsupportsystems,maintenancemanagement,
naval history, naval strategy and naval health
(CINAV,2015).
3 THESIMULATION
AccordingtotheInteractiveLearningSocietyandthe
International
Association of Simulation and Games,
thesimulationisdefinedasʺaworkingrepresentationof
reality; It may be abstracted, simplified or an accelerated
143
modelling of the process. It allows students to explore
systemswhererealityistooexpensive,complex,dangerous,
fastorslow.ʺ(LOPES&Oliveira,2013).
From the perspective of Captain Roque, the
simulationisamethodofimplementingamodelfora
real‐worldphenomenonthroughtraining,analysisor
experimentation
of objectives (Roque, 2010). A
navigation simulator is a device, computer program
orsimulationsystemcapableofreproducingonland
andundercontrolledconditionssomeoftheactivities
executedaboard the ship. The simulation allows to
increase the training volume, improving the
performanceachievedinrealoperationsandreducing
thetotal
time of learningand training,beingableto
haveacompleterepetitionofactionsandprocedures
(Roque,2010).
3.1 SimulationattheNavalacademy
The first simulator in the Naval Academy was
implemented in 1984 and had only the radar
component. Later on, the simulator TRANSAS 2000
was installed. Despite
of its small dimensions he
already has two visua l bridges. In 2002, the update
was made for the TRANSAS 3000, with five visual
bridges.
In2004acontractwassignedwiththeNorwegian
company Kongsberg Maritime, which resulted in the
installation of a state of the art of the navigation
simulation. This simulator, the NAVSIM, have the
capacity to reproduce and training seven different
ships in the same scenario or in seven distinct
scenariosorexercises(Buéetal.,2015).
Since 2010, during the training sessions in the
NAVSIM, cadets perform basic exercises of
navigation,manoeuvringandpositioningofships,to
advancedtacticaltrainingexercises,sessionsinmulti‐
threatscenariosandevenmaritimesearchandrescue
(SAR)operations.EachyearoftheIMhavedifferent
modules and training sessions to be played. The
modules applied differ depending on the learning
areawiththepossibilityofbemoreadvancedornot.
These
trainingareasarenavigation,communications,
seamanship and tactics and operations. During the
exercises, navigation techniques are trained, along
with specific methods of positioning the ships, and
the practice of the Naval and Technical language,
normallyinEnglish.
Duringthe4
th
yearoftheIM,morespecificallyfor
thenavycadets, thetrainingsessionsatNAVSIMare
moreregularandwithahigherlevelofrequirement,
moreless150hoursoftrainingjustinthesimulator.
ThetrainingattheNAVSIMtakespecialattention
tothedurationoftheexercisesand
toimprovementof
thedifficultiesandcriticalsituations,whichinvolves
the application of more advanced techniques and
manoeuvres, most of the cases involving a greater
numberofshipsinthesametacticalscenario.Thetop
areas that are trained are: coordinated exits and
entrances of naval forces in ports, under different
meteorological and oceanographic conditions
(METOC); emergency procedures training; anchor
andweighinganchorexercises;Replenishmentatsea
(RAS) and RAS approaches; Towing operations
(urgent and/or planned); Tactical operations;
communicationexercisesandleadershipandtraining
ofbridgeteamexercises.
Thecadetsduringtheir4
th
academicyear,execute
two long‐duration exercises in the NAVSIM, where
all the techniques learned and skills developed in
previousyearsareputintopractice.Attheendofthe
firstsemesterthecadetsaredividedintofourgroups
(fourships)andforatleast36consecutivehoursthey
perform
functions on the ship bridge for 6 hour
watch, according to an extensive list of events or
exercises. By the end of the 2
nd
semester, and
immediately before their sea training of two weeks,
the cadets will return to NAVSIM for another long‐
term exercise. During this last training in the
simulator,cadetsarepushedtothelimit,notonlyby
the requirement of the exercises, but also by the
increaseofstresssituations
andthefatiguelevel,due
tothedurationoftheexerciseitself.
Figure1.HoursofuseofNAVSIMby4
th
yearstudents.Source(Bue,2016)
144
3.2 TheSimulator
TheNAVSIMisdividedintwosimulationpoles,and
there are 4 of the seven bridges, at the Naval
Academy. The others 3 bridges are located in the
Integrated Centre for Naval Training, but the 7
bridges are connected through optical fibre which
allowstheconnectionbetween
themandresultsina
singlesimulator.TheNAVSIMcanbeoperatedfrom
one of the six existing instructor consoles, evenly
distributedoverthetwolocations.Theentiresystem
isoperatedthroughPolarissoftware,whichsupports
all ship models, scenarios and environmental
conditions, allowing the execution of several
simulated exercises.
All seven rooms have the same
equipment, which perfectly simulate the bridge of a
ship.Each bridge has thesteeringand manoeuvring
console,anavigationradar,ElectronicChartDisplay
Information System (ECDIS), Differential GPS
(DGPS), odometer, anemometer, rudder angle
indicator,binoculars,magneticneedle,gyrocompass,
navigational charts, the communication Global
Maritime
DistressSafetySystem(GMDSS),NAVTEX
and Automatic Information System (AIS), internal
and external communications capability (visual and
auditory)andanalarmandnavigationlightsconsole
(Buéetal.,2015).
4 TRAININGANDSKILLSMANAGEMENT
4.1 Teams
According to Smith, a team is a group where
individuals have a common goal
and the functions
and skills of each member fit into a single piece,
producingtogetheraglobalstandard. Thetwoma in
ideas of this definition (common task and
complementary contributions) become fundamental
intheteamconcept.Itissaidthatateamiseffective
when it can, if necessary, perform challenging
tasks
(ADAIR,1988).
AccordingtotheNavalNavigationInstructions3
(INA3), the bridge team is composed by the bridge
elementsthatperformtasksoractionsofthespecific
area of the navigation, driving the ship from one
pointtoanother,throughsafemanoeuvres.Whoruns
thisteamisthe
OfficeroftheWatch(OOW)exceptin
situations where the execution of the navigation is
provided on the bridge, in that case the Navigation
Officer (NAVO) that commands the bridge team
(Estado Maior da Armada, 1998). This team, the
Piloting Team, is a group of elements that command
theship,
alwayswithspecialsafetycares,inrestricted
waters,thenavigationteamisanintegralpartofthe
piloting team. The constitution of these teams
becomes variable according to the type of ship, the
conditionsofthenavigationpracticedandthespecific
situationresultingfromthe missionand activitiesof
theship
(EstadoMaiordaArmada,1998).
4.2 Traininginsimulatedscenarios
Simulation is not a new concept. Though centuries
thislearningprocess hasbeenusedandiscapableof
makingtheexpertsabletotransmittheirknowledge
totheirstudents.Thecreatedscenariosshouldbereal
orcanbesimulatedspecific
imitations,allowing the
studenttoexperienceanddevelopnewskillsinasafe
andcontrolledenvironment.
The simulation is not, by itself, a technic of
instruction but a tool that allows an effective
transferenceofknowledge(Carson‐Jackson,2015).
According to Captain Roque, the simulated
training has enormous advantages, such as:
training
inhighrisksituations,reducethecoastwithtraining
atseaorallowingpracticingveryhardsituationsthat
canbedangerousinreality(CaptainRoque,2010).
Simulation also allows to expand the volume of
training, improving the performance reached in real
operationsandreducesthetotaltimespentin
training
and formation, even though there can be an
exhaustive repetition of procedures and actions.
Among the various studied models, Captain Roque
has presented a training model, basedin a pyramid
consisted of four different stages, in which in the
author’sperspectiveshouldbethemodeltofollowup
(CaptainRoque,
2010).
Figure1.Trainingmodel.Source(CaptainRoque,2010)
According with figure 1, for the point (1), in the
base,thereshouldbeanunderstandingofthesubjects
throughformalandabstractconcepts,butthisprocess
is insufficient to the interiorization of practical
procedures.
In point (2) occurs the partial simulation of the
equipment or components of a system. This
point
covers the theoretical learning process and the
operational procedures of the equipment are
assimilated.Inpoint(3)thereisalreadyanintegrated
teamtrainingintermsoftheoperationalexploration
of the simulated system. At the top of thepyramid,
point(4),iswherethetrainingismoreadvantageous
operationallybutissubjecttosomeconstrains.
4.3 Competences
According to Ceitil, competences are designed as
structured modalities of action, required, exercised
and validated in a determined context. Then, the
competences become behaviours that persons
highlight continuously and regularly in their
professional work, having a character of non‐
universality(Ceitil,2010).
Boyatzisaffirm that competence is an abilitythat
showsthecapabilityofanindividual,describingwhat
he can make and not necessarily what he does no