Irving Oil and CANAPORT LNG mandated the Maritime Simulation and Resource Centre (MSRC) to conduct a simulation study consisting in a series of manoeuvres to determine if the existing operational procedures and restrictions that apply to LNG ships would work equally well with petroleum tankers and adhere to acceptable national and international standards.

Pilots from the Atlantic Pilotage Authority and tugboat captains used four bridges of the MSRC navigation simulator to conduct a series of simulations with Suezmax vessels assisted by tugboats fitted with azimuth-podded propulsion (Z-drive).

The MSRC developed their own ship models, a geographic database for the site and integrated the currents used for the simulations.