The St. John’s Port Authority (SJPA) requested simulations for new cruise ship classifications that are outside the typical size and propulsion of previous ship configurations to the Port of St. John’s.

As the cruise ship industry continues to evolve with more, larger ships now or potentially operating in the region, the matter of the current width of the navigational channel, is becoming a potential impediment to some lines/classes of cruise ships that are currently or considering future calls to the Port of St. John’s; especially during adverse weather conditions.

The Maritime Simulation and Resource Centre mandated (MSRC) was mandated to conduct a series of berthing and unberthing simulations in the Port of St. John’s to:

• Validate operational safety parameters for cruise ships already calling-in St. John’s, for both type of propulsion, conventional and azimuthal;
• Validate operational safety parameters for larger cruise ships considering calling-in St John’s;
• Evaluate the wind limits not to be exceeded for safe maneuvers;
• Evaluate the benefits of a widened channel and determine the safest approach route.

Furthermore, SJPA asked the marine pilots to perform additional simulated runs utilizing a widened channel of 120 meters in support of the proposed channel widening project.

The purpose of these maneuvers was to determine if they can be carried out safely within the established environmental limits for the port and also, are these limits still suitable for the new maneuver’s dynamics.