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Naval school Mürwick uses new simulator generation
Virtual seaways, fog on command
Mürwick/Bremen. Maritime traffic is
governed by a “right-of-way” just like
other traffic. Anyone who fails to obey
this has to expect serious damage to
the crew and ship. Although mistakes
made at the naval school in Mürwick
may cause accidents, these are nevertheless
without impact on man and
machine as dangerous situations are
all part of simulator training. The AANS
shiphandling training system at the
school’s simulation center has one fundamental
objective: to train actions
and reactions sufficiently to avoid
errors and to teach trainees how to
deal with mistakes made by others in
order to avoid major damage. In addition
to this, there are a whole lot of procedures
that are important for naval
forces and require initial training in the
simulator. Nevertheless, simulator training
is still only one (important) element
of training since true seamanship
can only be learned on board ship.
After far more than 20,000 hours of
operation of the old simulation center
taken into service back in 1987, the
decision in favor of a system renewal
was reached in 1997. Two years of
planning, development and integration
by the Bremen-based company
STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH then follo-
wed this decision. The modernized simulation
center was finally taken into
operation on 2 December 1999. The
gap between a simulator and the real
ship is becoming smaller and smaller.
The simulations provided by the new
AANS at the naval school in Mürwick
are so realistic that even experienced
seafarers soon forget that they are
“only” commanding a computer-generated
simulation and not a real
ship.
The system is equipped with the very
latest state of the art. It consists of a
true-to-scale nautical bridge with all
the usual instruments like control
stand, engine console and radar
equipment. An eleven-channel visual
system with CGI (computer generated
images) allows a realistic simulation
of the outside world at day and night.
Even complicated docking maneuvers
can be practiced in the simulator
thanks to the exact physical/mathematical
reproduction of the own ship’s
model, including the use of lines and
pilot vessels.
Two instructor stations as well as a
briefing/debriefing room are available
for control and monitoring purposes.
The instructor communicates with his
pupils via intercom and VHF. Besides
Rheinmetall assigned“BBB/A-2”
London/Düsseldorf. Standard &
Poor’s recently assigned its triple-“B”
long-term corporate credit and senior
unsecured debt ratings, and its “A-2”
short-term corporate credit ratings to
the German group Rheinmetall AG.
The outlook is stable.
The ratings reflect Rheinmetall’s moderate
financial profile and average
business-risk profile, based on sound
positions in its respective markets.
These strengths are offset partly by
exposure to the German defence sector
(about 15% of sales are to the German
defence ministry) and to market
trends in the global automotive and
electronics industries.
A key rating factor is the company’s
standing as market leader in several
industrial segments that target different
customer groups. In the defence
sector, Rheinmetall further benefits
from a comfortable order backlog. Also,
the ratings take into account
Rheinmetall’s moderate geographical
diversification, to which Germany
contributes about one-half of consolidated
sales.
In the past few years, Rheinmetall
has grown very rapidly thanks to several
substantial acquisitions. The
group more than doubled its sales
between 1997 and 1998. In the year to
Dec. 31, 1998, the group generated revenues
of euro (€) 4.13 billion (US$
4.37 billion) and earnings before interest,
taxes, depreciation, and amortisation
(EBITDA) of € 328 million. The
group’s lease-adjusted EBITDA margin
has increased gradually over the
years, and amounted to about 10% in
1997 and 1998. The group posted a
8
The naval school at Marwick also uses
the latest simulator generation from
STN Atlas Elektronik GmbH.
the bridge with visual system, the training
system includes six cabins with
the complete nautical equipment but
without the visual systems.
The interaction between the main
bridge and cabins also allows exercises
like nautical operations in units
and combined operations with several
ships. The general configuration therefore
also meets the international standards
for training nautical and technical
officers of ships in accordance with
STCW 95 (standards of training, certification
and watchkeeping for seafarers,
issued by the International
Maritime Organisation IMO) which is
obligatory for all UN members.
pre-tax loss of € 17.7 million in the
first half of 1999 (compared with a
pre-tax profit of € 5.2 million in the
first half of 1998), partly because of
the fact that profits in engineering
and defence activities are typically
booked in the second half of the year,
but also because of softer sales.
With a lease-adjusted net debt-tototal
capital ratio of 26% at Dec. 31,
1998, Rheinmetall is considered to
have good financial flexibility and a
moderate financial policy.
Standard & Poor’s expects the financial
burden of future external growth
to be alleviated partly by equity
support from existing shareholders
and/or strategic partners. The balance-sheet
structure is expected to remain
very conservative. The ratings
do not assume any major improvement
in profit margins, or any substantial
organic growth, Standard &
Poor’s said.