Simulators are no longer being seen as tools for general safety or general education – users want them to feature the exact type of ships they handle and the exact details of their particular port or harbour.

“Particularly in the area of port operations, we are designing simulators that help to create ‘near-real life’ replicas of specific components, equipment, processes or functions,” says Mr Rewari. “This can extend from creating training simulators for a specific mobile crane model to a complete simulated replica of a container, bulk or liquids handling terminal.

“And this isn’t something we are pushing out into the market – it is what people are asking for.”

Ports and terminals worldwide are increasingly leaning towards adopting simulation technology to streamline their processes, reduce accident and pollution risks, improve disaster management response and, in many cases, actually reduce their capital expenditure by working out alternative procedures in advance, says ARI. “In some ways, it’s safe to assume that the marine operations industry is catching up with other industries such as aviation, power generation or warfare that have leveraged simulation technologies for a much longer period of time.”

Thus, simulators are in demand for pre-construction feasibility studies, pilot training, crane handling, terminal operations, disaster management, tug operations, port planning and workflow management.

ARI, based in New Delhi, designed its SAFEPORT program to conduct ship simulation modelling studies for evaluating the feasibility of ship operation and navigation before large sums are committed to creating, altering or expanding infrastructure. Pilots, tugmasters and other personnel can also be brought in to operate in the virtual scenario, before any final decisions are made.

“All new harbours, or existing harbours in expansion mode, need to take critical decisions of far-reaching consequence regarding their plans for designing and redesigning of channels, berths, terminals, buoyage systems, transit fairways and dredging,” says Mr Rewari. “It is well accepted that it is futile to commit large, and often limited, resources to physical construction before understanding and appreciating the nature of the problem and the possible solutions.”

Apart from the emphasis on customisation, ARI has been increasingly working on the concept of “integrated simulation”, based on the primary principle that a port operates as a unit.

“Failure of a single component invariably means failure of the entire system,” says Mr Rewari. “Additionally, there are many instances in the life of an average port where the success of any operation depends entirely on how well the various components of the port unit are operating together.”

Take, for example, the end-to-end lifecycle of the container from the time it enters the port until the time the ship sails with the container, he says; it is possible to simulate its movement from truck through forklift or reachstacker operations, RTG or RMG, to ship-to-shore crane. “The integrated simulation solution we supply includes the core simulation equipment and several unique added components and services.”

Another key advantage of simulators is that they are “reasonably language agnostic”, he points out. “So you can bring in people with different cultures or backgrounds to learn by seeing the doing – very important in a world that is losing its geographical boundaries.”