Kongsberg Maritime has signed a contract to buy the Trondheim-based ship simulation and consultancy company, Ship Modelling & Simulation Centre AS (SMSC), with the acquisition expected to be completed by the end of January 2016.

A new maritime simulator facility has been opened in Le Havre, France, with French President François Hollande attending the inauguration of the facility at École Nationale Supérieure Maritime (ENSM).

Kongsberg Maritime has released its latest K-Sim Cargo simulator model, SCC-II, based on a Suezmax crude oil carrier with 12 cargo tanks and two slop tanks.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA), Norwegian Coast Guard and the Norwegian Clean Seas Association for Operating Companies (NOFO) report that they have completed a full-scale trial of Kongsberg Maritime’s ‘MBR’ (Maritime Broadband Radio) inter-vessel communication system in the North Sea.

Kongsberg Maritime and Algoryx Simulation have entered a five year agreement supporting the continued development of Kongsberg’s K-Sim range of maritime simulator systems.

Kongsberg Maritime, working with the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), has added AIO (Admiralty Information Overlay) functionality to its latest K-Bridge ECDIS and K-Nav ECDIS software, to make additional chart information available to the mariner when using its ECDIS models.

Kongsberg Maritime has completed delivery and installation of a new K-Sim Polaris ship-handling simulator for the Cebu Reliable and Excellent Seafarers Training Center (CREST) in the Philippines.

Tsakos Group is to add new ship-handling and Dynamic Positioning simulators from Kongsberg Maritime at its training centre, the Maria Tsakos TCM Academy in Athens, Greece.

Kongsberg Maritime, Norwegian shipping company Østensjo and the Norwegian Marine Technology Research Institute (Marintek) are working on a new joint R&D project for operations using motion compensated and telescopic gangways, typically found on accommodation vessels in the offshore sector.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has authorised the delivery of Kongsberg’s fourth generation SAT-AIS Receiver flight models to the Norwegian Space Centre, for integration into the NORSAT-1 satellite in preparation for its launch early next year.