OXNARD : Computer Navigation Simulator Funds OKd

The Oxnard Harbor District’s Board of Commissioners voted unanimously Monday to pay half the cost of entering the Port of Hueneme’s dimensions into an animated computer ship simulator to help ensure safer berthing of large and unusually shaped ships.

The $12,000 fee to have the harbor’s measurements fed into the computer, operated by a Florida-based maritime union, will allow ship pilots to gather information before entering the port and help them determine how best to navigate the channel.

The cost of the project will be shared by the Harbor District and the Naval Construction Battalion Center.

“It’s a lot nicer to see a light go tilt than hear the bottom rip out of your ship,” said Ray Fosse, a harbor commissioner and ship pilot.

The simulations will take into consideration the depth of the port and the wind’s force and direction, said Tony Taormina, the Harbor District’s executive director.

Taormina said the ship simulator, which costs $330 an hour to use, is much like animated flight simulators used to train military pilots for combat.

“It will save us in the long run a lot of money and unnecessary work,” Taormina said.

In addition to the port’s depth and wind direction, the computer will be able to simulate a ship’s proximity to the jetty and the location of the shoreline and the waves.

Taormina said the district’s $6,000 investment is part of a larger effort to deepen and widen the port.