At a meeting in Copenhagen on March 1st, 2007, the Intership Navigation Training Centre (ISNTC) of the Philippines signed an agreement with MAN Diesel for the installation of an ME-B simulator at their facilities in the Malate district outside Manila.

Each year, more than 25,000 training units are taken by students at the ISNTC, which was founded in 1994. These range from short, special courses that last just a couple of days, such as crane operation, fire-fighting, etc., to ISNTC’s own, three-year, cadet-training courses. Approximately 100 students pass the cadet courses annually, half of whom are engineers. 15% of the 25,000 training units are taken by external students as the ISNTC caters for students from all over the Philippines.

The order for the ME-B simulator comes less than six months after an ISNTC order for six MAN B&W 6S40ME-B engines. These will be built by STX in Korea with the first to be delivered towards the end of 2007 – MAN Diesel is developing the ME-B simulator while work on the first ME-B engine progresses. When the simulator is installed, the ISNTC will offer courses to both internal and external students. These courses will be held by two of the centre’s instructors who will receive a thorough grounding from MAN Diesel PrimeServ.

The ISNTC is no stranger to ME-engine training. This February saw the first course held at the ISNTC utilising one of MAN Diesel PrimeServ’s mobile ME-simulators.

Captain E.H. Adami of Intership Navigation says: “We are grateful that MAN Diesel has listened to our proposal and adopted the good idea of having a training centre in the Philippines, which is home to so many of the world’s seamen. I am confident that use of the simulator will be fully booked, especially since it will also allow us to conduct training for every ME-engine type. In that regard, the simulator is unique in the world. I believe it is the first time in engineering history that a simulator’s development occurs in parallel with the building of the first actual engine. This is further proof of the deep, long-lasting cooperation between our two companies. It is a very innovative step by MAN Diesel, and one we very much appreciate.”

Senior Vice President of MAN Diesel PrimeServ, Otto Winkel adds, “For us at MAN Diesel PrimeServ, this agreement is a perfect fit – we have now a bridgehead in the Philippines with full access to training facilities as we also intend to hold PrimeServ courses using the ME-B simulator.”

See the picture here.