Successful User Conference in China!

Approximately 80 delegates from China and other Asian countries attended the Kongsberg Maritime (KM) Simulation User Conference 2008 in Asia. The event took place 11th – 13th March at the Sofitel Plaza, Xiamen in China. Theme for the conference this year was ‘Maximizing the use of simulators', and included presentations of how the customers extend the use of simulators e.g. for assessment, in integration and even for R&D when expanding the Panama Canal!

Delegates at the 2008 User Conference in China

Kongsberg Maritime's agent, Hoi Tung Communication & Navigation co-hosted the Asia UC2008 together with Jimei University, which is a modern institute, possessing among other a huge Kongsberg Maritime 360° Full Mission Ship's Bridge Simulator. Mark Treen, KM Simulation's Sales and Marketing Manager, opened the conference and was followed by the Chairman of Hoi Tung, Jiao Tianyue and the President of Jimei University, Gu JianDe, who both expressed the honour of co-hosting the KM's User Conference 2008.

During the three day conference customers and partners shared experiences of how they maximize their use of simulators. Technical Manager, Eldred Apolinar, presented experiences from Mastech, a KM Service Center, while Capt. Krishnan Gopala, Manager at Singapore Maritime Academy, shared experiences with targeted training towards specific market segments and focused on the Simulators as a powerful tool, when used correctly. Capt. Reynold Sabay, CEO at the New Simulator Center of the Philippines, took the simulators beyond training limits by showing how they can be used for objective assessment of competence without human invention. Also Dandy Galang from MAAP held an interesting speech about integrated ship simulators for full crew training while Capt. Rogelio Altafulla, from the SIDMAR Centre, Panama Canal Authority presented how they used the KM Simulator technology when they expanded the canal to find the best possible flow directions and velocity.

Kongsberg Maritime gave an overview of how KM is meeting the challenge to support the company's increasing number of users in Asia/Oceania by offering a broader range of products and improvement of the sales and support channels through network partners and KM offices.

KM Simulation has recently extended its product portfolio with both Crane Simulators and Offshore Simulators such as Anchor Handling and Dynamic Positioning. Also, key recent product innovations were presented to the delegates by the different Product Advisors.

Petter Buskland, Manager of Customer Support, gave an update on service innovation and experiences from cost-effective on-line trouble shooting. As E-learning has more and more become an actual educational tool for training institutes, KM Product Advisor, Serge Côte presented web-enabled simulator training.

The conference also featured a one-day visit to the impressive Jimei University. The President Gu JianDe gave the delegates a warm welcome before they all went for a guided tour at the University's premises. This tour included of course a visit to the new simulation centre, possessing the 360° Full Mission Ship's Bridge Simulator delivered by Kongsberg Maritime earlier this year. Garland Hardy, President and Simulator Expert from Lantec, Canada demonstrated for the delegates how to use the simulator and took the attendees on a simulator-trip to the Xiamen-harbour before they left for different workshops.

Mark Treen rounded off the conference with a summing up of the fascinating days where the delegates had shared how they maximize the use of simulators. KM had presented new training opportunities with offshore, crane and web enabled simulation and given an update on new features and development as well as an update on the KM Customer Support concept. He told how Kongsberg Maritime will continue to maximize the company's synergies between the real on-board equipment and the simulated and further maximize the company's depth of knowledge with people and experience and added that the company is committed to delivering cutting edge technology and enabling continuous innovation to allow users to the educational usage of Kongsberg Maritime simulators!