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Seawork has been chosen by Charity & Taylor to announce its appointment as authorised dealer for VASCO, the world’s first untethered Virtual Reality (VR) bridge simulator from Kilo Solutions.
Part of the Aage Hempel Group, Charity & Taylor specialise in providing surveys, installations, maintenance, and repairs for navigation, communication, and safety equipment worldwide. The news marks an exciting time for the advancement of VR in the marine sector, which has been slower to adopt the technology compared to other industries.
With an extensive network of over 120 skilled employees and 45+ offices in 15 countries, Aage Hempel is uniquely positioned to deliver comprehensive support, installation, and training services for VASCO.
Steve Reeve, Managing Director of Aage Hempel Group, said, “we are excited to bring VASCO’s innovative VR training technology to our clients. This partnership aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering flexible, effective, and accessible marine electronic solutions that enhance safety and operational performance. VASCO’s untethered design and realistic simulation capabilities represent the future of maritime training and we look forward to supporting crews in developing and importantly, maintaining their skills with this powerful tool.”
Andy Parkin, managing director from Kilo was demonstrating the new system on the Charity & Taylor stand at Seawork, using Meta Quest Pro Headsets and a screen. This simple set up allowed him to show delivery of the secure high-impact BRM (Bridge Resource Management) and ColRegs training without relying on local technical infrastructure.
Parkin explained to a captivated audience, “Five years in the making, VASCO is a virtual reality navigational bridge, connecting seafarers globally for basic navigational training. It's been purchased by the Royal Navy and the US Navy, amongst others, and we are now introducing it to the commercial market.
“In a nutshell, we’re offering Low cost, high impact technology with cloud connectivity within VASCO or offline box solutions. The basic ethos of this is if you can't take the individual to the simulator, take the simulator to the individual.”
The new system has multiple uses including maintaining bridge watch standards, building full bridge team cohesion, evaluating individual and team competence, addressing skills fade and complacency creep, rehearsing unfamiliar operations, preparing for forthcoming navigational challenges, assessing suitability for recruitment/ promotion, recreating near-miss situations and providing simulator access for all.
VIAB (VASCO in a Box) has its own offline router and server, so there is no reliance on ship systems, giving it complete global accessibility. Housed in a durable case, the self-contained VR bridge simulation training solution is designed for environments without reliable internet connectivity.
Aage Hempel’s partnership with Kilo Solutions enables the group to offer this state-of-the-art training solution to commercial, offshore, and superyacht sectors across the UK and internationally.
Technology has advanced so much in recent years that Parkins mused he could have delivered global training from a service station on his way to Seawork!
This was Andy Parkins’ first visit to Seawork as guest of Charity & Taylor. Speaking about the exhibition, he commented: “I’m really impressed; there’s excellent footfall with a really targeted client base. Exactly the type of people we want to be talking to.”
Exhibitor; Charity & Taylor
