August 20, 2011:
The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNN) is buying a custom made computerized, networked, ship simulator for training crews. The sim will be built by American ship simulation design firm CSC. These simulators recreate the bridge of the ship, and allow the sailors and officers on the bridge to accurately practice all sorts of at-sea situations, including those that would be too dangerous to practice on an actual ship.
The RNN sim will arrive in two years and will allow up to six teams use the sim at once, including training between ships operating close to each other. The graphics of the RNN sim are 360 degrees and photo-realistic.
Other navies are using sims that operate like first-person-shooter games, depicting all the internal compartments of a ship. Such sims are used to train damage control crews.