Captains aboard Crystal River Cruise ships will now complete their training and assessments in a state-of-the-art simulator.
The construction of the simulator will be completed this November, and the training simulations will take place at the Simwave simulation center in the Netherlands as part of a partnership between Simwave and Crystal’s parent company Genting Hong Kong.
This new training will allow captains to delve into real-world preparation and safety proficiency while commanding the brand’s vessels at sea. While undergoing the simulation, trainees will be overseen by a development captain, whose job is to create and execute the extensive training curriculum of the simulations.
The simulation is designed by the Simwave mathematical modeling and research department. In order to make the simulated training realistic, they are using actual specs from the Crystal vessels so to accurately depict what a real-life situation may be or feel like to captains aboard the ships. This is intended to ensure that the captains are fully familiar with the components of the vessels before coming aboard.
In a written release, Simwave co-founder Joost van Ree said that having a high quality visual system is of great importance in the captains’ training processes – thus, it is necessary for captains to know what to do with ropes and other navigation objects in the event of an emergency.
The Crystal Mozart, Crystal’s first river ship, employs two captains who both man the navigation bridge at all times; the river simulator will allow for a second captain to train for emergency relief situations aboard the brand’s “Rhine Class” ships as well.
Crystal CEO and president Edie Rodriguez said that the Crystal brand is dedicated to “setting new standards of excellence” aboard their cruise ships, with the expertise of their captains and officers being of “chief importance” to the security and safety of their guests.
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