The design of new port infrastructures—such as terminals, berths, docks, or even complete ports—as well as access navigation channels, manoeuvring areas, and access for new vessels (new traffic, larger ships) —becomes effective when maritime operations commence. Beyond presenting a technical challenge in terms of navigation and manoeuvring, these developments also entail significant change.
Ensuring the safety of operations is the responsibility of Harbour Pilots, Captains, and Officers. Nowadays, the use of real-time manoeuvring simulators enables training in new manoeuvres to become an integral phase of port projects, allowing participants to familiarise themselves with new vessels and areas, operational limits, tug usage, and more.
Change Management
Change is understood both as the difference between an initial and final state, and as the process of transition between these states. For change to be successfully implemented, individuals who must face it need to be prepared, equipped with the necessary tools, and supported so that they fully adopt it.
Change Management provides a suitable framework for managing the human aspect of change. An appropriate Change Management methodology proves very useful in the projects referenced here. Change management models offer specific guidelines to help organisations plan and implement change successfully. There are a variety of such models, which help individuals understand the need for change, motivate them to accept and carry it out, equip them with the tools required to face it, and ensure that it becomes permanent.
Applying change management models to the access of new vessels in existing navigation areas or in new ports reveals that pilot training supports progress through its various phases, aiding adaptation to new manoeuvres, the definition of optimal strategies, sizing of tug fleets, and setting operational boundaries.
Maritime Training
The integration of real-time manoeuvring simulators in port projects allows validation and optimisation of maritime operations in response to the arrival of new vessels, infrastructural modifications, or changes in manoeuvring areas. These systems facilitate specific training for Pilots, Captains, and Officers, enabling familiarisation with new operational limits, use of tugs, and new technologies.
Siport21’s programmes are tailored to the complexity of manoeuvres, the number of participants, and the project objectives. They include scenarios with increasing difficulty and emergency simulations (engine failures, blackout, rudder blockages, meteorological changes, etc.), which are essential for risk analysis and decision-making under pressure.
Additionally, integrated sessions on resource management, leadership, team working and situational awareness are included, aligned with STCW and SIRE 2.0 requirements. The methodology encourages systematic repetition and customisation of training, including variants such as joint manoeuvres between Pilots and Tug Masters and simulations of hydrodynamic interaction in narrow channels.
With over 25 years of experience and projects in 65 countries, Siport21 has established the use of simulators as a key technical tool for improving safety and efficiency in change management for maritime operations.