Novatug, the innovation and R&D division of Multraship Towage & Salvage, has introduced a state-of-the-art simulator and training centre built with Wärtsilä technology. This facility aims to enhance safety, improve crew readiness, and boost performance in complex towage, vessel handling, and specialised maritime tasks.
The simulator suite at Terneuzen headquarters trains masters, towmasters, and crews in realistic scenarios like complex towing, navigation, project towage, and emergencies. It features a full mission simulator, mixed reality tech, project simulation, and digital vessel models, including a detailed Carrousel RAVE Tug model for specialised manoeuvres. The centre is supported by experienced trainers, many of whom are still active vessel captains, who use their on-board experience to train crew.
The new state-of-the-art training centre is introduced as Multraship and Novatug work to equip their teams for more complex, high-pressure situations and prepare them for future vessel operations, including new propulsion methods, fuel types and data-driven scenarios.
“Advanced training techniques have always been a critical part of our operations, particularly during complex towage operations and high-pressure manoeuvring situations where no two scenarios are ever the same,” said Leendert Muller, Managing Director at Multraship.
“Most vessel simulators are built to train crew for navigational scenarios, but Multraship's new simulator is designed specifically to enable our crews to understand the challenges of manoeuvrability. Effective operations depend on close cooperation between towmasters, wheelmen, and many other stakeholders, often working across specialised assets and on complex projects where Multraship plays a crucial role. The simulator is built to develop exactly this kind of coordinated handling and communication. And because our work is rarely a one-vessel job, the simulator allows multiple people to train simultaneously in a single shared scenario, coordinating across several vessels in real time, just as they would in a real-life operation.
“By investing in this simulator and our people, we are giving our teams access to a much wider range of operational scenarios that are difficult to replicate in the real world. Crucially, we are giving them the space and resources they need to make mistakes, learn from them and build an environment where we can grow our crew for the future,” he added.
The new training centre investment highlights Multraship and Novatug’s ongoing commitment to safety, operational excellence, and specialist maritime skills, emphasising their dedication to advanced operational training. In addition to internal crew development, the facility will serve external clients and partners for crew training, project simulations, port operations evaluations, dedicated research projects, and custom vessel-handling scenarios before live operations. The long-term goal is to establish the site as a regional training hub for the broader maritime industry.
Images: Multraship Towage & Salvage
