The Port Revel Shiphandling Training Centre is a French maritime pilotage school that trains pilots, masters, and officers on large ships like
supertanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
s,
container ship
A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
s,
LNG carrier
An LNG carrier is a tank ship designed for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG).
History
The first LNG carrier ''Methane Pioneer'' () carrying , classed by Bureau Veritas, left the Calcasieu River on the Louisiana Gulf coast on 25 January ...
s and
cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...
s . The facility uses manned models at a 1:25 scale on a man-made lake designed to simulate natural conditions including harbours, canals, and open seas. It was the first such facility in the world. The Centre was created in 1967 near
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, France, by Laboratoire Dauphinois d'Hydraulique (no
Artelia.
The courses are given by former
maritime pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled professionals ...
s. Since 1967, the Centre has trained over 6 500 maritime pilots, captains and officers from all over the world. French, European, Australian, Brazilian and North American pilots make up 90% of the Centre's students.
The manned
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
training regime is now recommended by the
International Maritime Organization
The International Maritime Organization (IMO, French: ''Organisation maritime internationale'') is a specialised agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating shipping. The IMO was established following agreement at a UN conference ...
unde
Resolution A 960 (23)of December 2005.
The facility was written about by
John McPhee
John Angus McPhee (born March 8, 1931) is an American writer. He is considered one of the pioneers of creative nonfiction. He is a four-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in the category General Nonfiction, and he won that award on the fourth ...
in an October, 1998 article for ''
The Atlantic Monthly
''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science.
It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...
'', later republished as Chapter Two in his book ''Uncommon Carriers'' (2006).
History
The centre's origin goes back to the fifties, when Port Revel's mother company, Sogreah, was studying bank erosion on the Suez Canal using model ships sailing on a scale model with a movable bed (i.e. granular material subjected to erosion by turbulent water movement).
At the end of the sixties this experience with free sailing model ships was used by Esso to anticipate the manoeuvring behaviour of the new, much larger, oil tankers.
After three years spent with Esso captains between 1967 and 1970, the Centre was taken over by Sogreah in 1970.
During the 1970s, most students were captains, while the first maritime pilots came to discover the centre.
In the 1990s, the first refresher courses were organised for pilots, who returned every 5 years. These courses are less directive and leave more room for customisation, which is a way of optimising port operations to increase port accessibility.
Manned model shiphandling training has improved over the years because:
* the instructors have become more proficient in delivering the courses and in their ability to structure courses as required,
* lake facilities have undergone changes, such as the creation of extensive shallow water areas with currents, and can mimic specific port scenarios,
* all kinds of large ships are available and model electronics have become more sophisticated in order to reproduce real ship manoeuvring behaviour,
* tugs have become a part of the courses since 2000, providing realistic capability for berthing/unberthing operations and escort work,
* pod propulsion is available since 2006,
* introducing quality assurance has increased the reliability of ships and equipment,
* the lake area was extended from four to five hectares during the winter 2008-2009,
* a large container ship (8 500 TEU) was added to the fleet in 2009,
* a large LNG carrier of 266 000 m3, the Q-Max, was added in 2010,
* a
Controllable-pitch propeller (CPP) was introduced in 2013,
* a cruise ship (5000 people) with 2 pods and powerful bow thrusters was added in 2014.
Manned models
Manned models are small scale
models
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure.
Models c ...
that can carry and be handled by at least one person on an open expanse of water. They must behave like real ships, giving the shiphandler the same sensations. Wind, currents, waves, water depths, channels and berths must be reproduced realistically.
Manned models are used for research (e.g. ship behaviour), engineering (e.g. port layout) and for training in shiphandling (e.g. maritime pilots, masters and officers). They are usually at 1:25 scale.
The aim of training on manned models is to enable seamen to acquire or to develop manoeuvring skills through a better understanding of a ship's behaviour as it sails in restricted water conditions at manoeuvring speed. Manned models are considered by ships' captains and maritime pilots as the next best thing to a full-scale prototype for understanding a ship's behaviour. Training on the scale models provides experience that could never be gained on real ships for the simple reason that neither ship-owners nor local authorities would allow such risks to be taken. Scale models allow the shiphandler to make mistakes. Scale models allow experimentation on ship behaviour to explore unknown fields beyond the limits of safety.
Periodic training on scale models will maintain shiphandling skills at their highest level and periodic evaluations will show it.
Those who have trained on both claim that scale models are complementary to
computer simulators. While manoeuvres with currents, waves, tugs, anchors, bank effects, etc. are reproduced more accurately on scale models, numerical simulators are more realistic when it comes to the bridge environment.
In an ideal world, shiphandling training would consist of three things:
:
:1. Training on board real ships: the environment is obviously realistic, but the time spent and the acceptable risks are limited.
:
:2. Training on manned models: manoeuvres can be pushed beyond the safety limits and ships sail on real water, but there is limited reproduction of the captain's vision and of wind conditions.
:
:3. Training on numerical simulators: the water and ships are simply equations, but the bridge and 360° vision are realistic enough to simulate Bridge Team Management and crisis management.
Lake
The 5
hectare
The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is a ...
lake is located in the lower
Alps
The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...
near
Grenoble
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
where the wind regime is very mild. Moreover, it is sheltered by a forest. Hence uncontrolled wind effects on ships are minimised.
At 1:25 scale, the lake area represents a navigable zone of about 5 by 2 nautical miles, allowing several models to sail at the same time at normal manoeuvring speeds and to berth at one of the 50 berths and piers. Shallow and very shallow water areas (less than 10% under keel-clearance for certain ships) are to be found on about 50% of the lake area.
The lake is fitted with wave, current and wind generators and complex port approach configurations. Around 40% of the lake is subjected to currents.
Fleet
The
model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the Plan_(drawing), plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a mea ...
ships are all at 1:25 scale. There are 11 ships and 4 tugs. All ships are equipped with indicators giving rudder angle, engine speed, ship speed, wind speed, etc. Most of the ships are equipped with bow and stern thrusters and anchors. Five ships are equipped with a DGPS tracking system. Training with special features like Becker rudder,
Schilling rudder
A Schilling rudder is a specific type of profiled rudder used on certain boats and ships.
Concept
The Schilling profile is designed to improve the effective lift generated by the rudder and hence improve the maneuverability of the craft, especia ...
,
CPP is available.
See
similitude of ship models
Manned models
Many research workers, hydraulics specialists and engineers have used scale models for over a century, in particular in towing tanks. Manned models are small scale models that can carry and be handled by at least one person on an ...
for details of the scaling factors involved.
References
* IMPA, 2014 - IMPA on Pilotage - pp161–169
* John Mc Phee, 2006 - Uncommon Carriers - pp43–65
* Michel R. Denis, 2006 - Récits Insolites - p49 & p113
* The Nautical Institute, 1997 - On Pilotage and Shiphandling - p37, p181, p260, p280, p305
External links
Port Revelwebsite
website
website
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Education in France
Maritime colleges in France
Model boats
Scale modeling
Buildings and structures in Isère
Education in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes