Orsted has announced a new three-year partnership with the US Maritime Institute of Technology & Graduate Studies (MITAGS).
With Orsted’s support, MITAGS has created a virtual offshore wind farm navigation simulator for mariners.
The simulator allows mariners to experience piloting through a commercial-scale offshore wind farm.
The facility, which is located in Linthicum Heights, Maryland will give mariners an opportunity to experience navigating through a virtual simulation of Orsted’s Ocean Wind and Revolution Wind projects.
Ocean Wind will be located 15 miles off the coast of southern New Jersey and is the largest project in Orsted’s portfolio at 1,100MW.
Revolution Wind is a 704MW project and will be located approximately 15 miles south of the Rhode Island Coast.
Currently, mariners do not have easily accessible opportunities to navigate through commercial-scale offshore wind farms without traveling to Europe.
Orsted head of marine affairs John O’Keeffe said: "This innovative partnership with MITAGS has allowed us to enhance how we engage with our maritime stakeholders.
"The reaction from mariners has been extremely positive and the experience is much more impactful than talking about navigation based on project charts.
"We’re looking forward to inviting more stakeholders in the coming months."
MITAGS executive director Glen Paine added: “MITAGS simulation provides a 'virtual reality' from the load port out to the offshore wind farms.
"This greatly enhances safety and efficiency.
"MITAGS is honored to partner with Orsted in the advancement of offshore wind energy for the United States."
MITAGS multiple bridge capabilities allow for up to six full-mission bridges, and six-part task to be integrated in one exercise.
The simulation can be viewed remotely, in real time, by stakeholders that cannot travel due to pandemic restrictions.
