AZIMUTHING CONTROL DEVICES (ACD’s)

February 23rd, 2013 by JCB
Posted in Articles, Technical and Training | No Comments »

 

With an increasing number of manufacturers entering the pod  propulsion market, the formal name of ACD’s for pod propulsion units was one of the outcomes from the EU Azipilot project which ended earlier this year. The UKMPA were partners in this project and the full outcome papers from the project can be found at the following link: http://pilot.ncl.ac.uk

A key finding of the project was that despite an increasing number of vessels being fitted with ACD’s, the levels of training for Masters and officers is varied but most pilots have never received any formal training in the correct operation of ACD propulsion units, with the majority leaving the manoeuvring of vessels fitted with ACD’s to the Master.

This is not only unsatisfactory but also fails to comply with IMO Resolution A960 which requires pilots to be familiar with all the on board systems that they are likely to encounter.

In London, in recognition of this compliance factor, an ACD control unit for our in-house simulator was commissioned in order to provide training for pilots. The PLA’s simulator is supplied and maintained by MARIN and along with the control unit,  a single ACD ship model based on the tanker Prospero and two twin ACD models based on the cruise ship Europa and the tanker Excello are available for training exercises. The problem then was how to train the simulator operators (one of whom is your editor) to become proficient in handling the ACD vessels to the high standard required for training the other pilots? Research at the time confirmed the Azipilot project findings that the provision of formal ACD training  is almost non-existent. The solution was found in Germany where the Hamburg pilots have established a training centre (http://www.hamburg-port-services.de) offering pilot training including ACD’s and in 2010 two Hamburg pilots , Jan Peter and Thomas Lindner came to our Gravesend centre and provided the five of us  simulator operators with an intensive ACD training course. Since then we have been providing ACD training for the London pilots which has been very well received since the correct use of ACD’s for manoeuvring is far from straightforward!

Two years of experience with training our own pilots has resulted in our being now in a position to offer training outside courses to pilots and ships’ officers. For further information on the course contact:

Richard Flynn, Pilotage Resources Manager, Port of London Authority, Royal Pier Road, Gravesend DA12 2BD

email: richard.flynn@pla.co.uk   phone: 01474 562520