NavSim

For over two decades, NavSim has been plying its expertise in maritime simulation and radar based waterside surveillance systems. NavSim has provided maritime simulator installations for educational institutions throughout the U.S., including maritime academies, colleges, as well as federal training facilities. NavSim offers state-of-the-art, cost-competitive, Commercial-Off-The-Shelf and custom-engineered maritime simulators and waterside surveillance systems to help maritime academies and shoreside facilities reach their training and security goals. The company specializes in full mission ship’s bridge visual simulators, electronic navigation (radar/ARPA & ECDIS), GMDSS, liquid cargo handling, and engine room simulators. Despite being a relatively small-sized company, NavSim successfully provides clients the capabilities of a large company with a customer-centric approach. “We are committed to the success of our customers’ training programs and offer maintenance and technical assistance programs that reflect this commitment,” says Anthony J. Kunecki, president of NavSim.

NavSim is an authorized dealer/installer for Wärtsilä Voyage Systems (Maritime Simulation Software), Furuno Electronics (Marine Electronics), and Nobletec (Electronic Charting Systems and Coastal Surveillance Software). At the onset of potential projects, the company works with the client to determine and refine their requirements to best serve their training needs. Based on those requirements, NavSim first looks for existing COTS components that can be integrated to save time and money.

“As systems integrators with a team of electrical engineers and technicians, our first approach is to identify COTS components to fulfill clients' needs," adds Kunecki. NavSim’s simulators utilize COTS equipment and Wartsila/Transas Simulation Software running on MS Windows-based PCs. If no COTS solution is available, then the company carries out designing the necessary hardware/software to fulfill the requirement in the most cost-effective way possible. The company specializes in designing custom interfaces to real ship controls and instrumentation the customer may require. The system is then tested internally before it is sent to the client for final use.

NavSim vouches on its team of highly knowledgeable and reliable technical personnel, including senior-level engineers, computer scientists, and technicians who have extensive experience with both military and commercial applications. The team at NavSim has been involved with Maritime Simulation for over three decades and has been responsible for numerous maritime simulation and shipboard installation projects. Major maritime training customers include the US Coast Guard Academy, State University of New York Maritime Academy, Texas A&M University, Maritime Professional Training in Ft. Lauderdale; Massachusetts Maritime Academy; Great Lakes Maritime Academy; and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, GA. “We got our start developing radar simulators at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory (Calspan) and have been involved with all forms of Maritime Simulation ever since,” says Kunecki.

In an instance, NavSim helped SUNY Maritime College to upgrade their existing simulators, which had become completely outdated, to Wärtsilä systems for enhanced performance and graphics. With NavSim, the client was able to reuse their existing hardware, worth millions of dollars, and make it work for Wärtsilä’s software. The company helped them save millions of dollars by engineering and reconfiguring their existing hardware with Wärtsilä’s software for enhanced performance rather than replacing their hardware entirely with new equipment.

In fact, just recently, Texas A&M University at Galveston approached NavSim to provide an option for e-learning in response to the COVID-19 crisis. The company remotely installed and configured TeamViewer software on the university’s simulation PCs and client version on the student’s PC to enable them finish their coursework. Such instances show NavSim’s quick adaptability to the situation and need to address the client's concerns to serve them better. "We are proud of our record of maintaining a close and productive relationship with our customers throughout the life of the installed products,” says Kunecki.

Along with its spirit of innovation, NavSim is always looking for new opportunities in offshore wind farm security and vessel traffic management systems. The company is currently in the process of installing Lock Operator Training simulators for the Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation to train their new staff on the proper procedures to control lock and bridge operations. Similarly, the company also plans to work more with maritime and military museums to install simulators for educational and entertainment purposes.