HOME > Research > Research Facilities > The training ship Fukae-maru
The Fukae Maru is a training ship with a coastal navigation area built at the Tamano shipyard of Mitsui Shipbuilding Company.
The bridge, the focus of the navigation, is equipped not only with modern equipment, including the navigation general console, but also with an engine control console, and the console room is expansive and equipped with both navigation and engineering functions.
One of the many features of this ship is a data processing room at its center. It consolidates into a microcomputer data from the various devices, including from the integrated radio waves navigation system within the ship, the engine, and other equipment through a LAN system using optical fibers, and it also transmits remote control signals to each device. This data processing system makes it possible to efficiently conduct experiments, research, and surveys on the ship. In addition, the ship has been installed with numerous devices and systems incorporating the latest electronics technologies. To give just a few examples, for navigation, other than the navigation comprehensive console into which is incorporated functions such as the star-scan type ARPA radar and the navigation support information processing device, it is equipped with a variety of state-of-the art navigation instruments. For the engine, it has various instruments to control it remotely from the bridge, starting with the engine comprehensive console incorporating a data logger, and it has an active vibration isolation device, an axial generator, and a shaft motor. For experiments and research, it has all the equipment that are needed for collecting and analyzing information from inside and outside of the ship. Furthermore, efforts are made to ensure that the equipment is kept up to date over the passage of time.
The training ship Fukae Maru, which is equipped with these kinds of devices, can be said to be an advanced intelligent ship, and in addition to being used for practical training for students, experiments, and research, it is also expected to serve as a venue for major activities to explore the needs of the new era and to solve problems through the experiments and research of the instructors.
