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Resolve builds large wet trainer for stability, damage control course

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David Boldt, Simulator Group manager; Denise Johnston, director of Resolve Maritime Academy, and Clifford Charlock, Fire School manager, at the site of Resolve Maritime Academy’s new wet trainer in Port Everglades
In order to train crew on flooding and survivable hull breaches, Fort Lauderdale-based Resolve Maritime Academy is building a two-story wet trainer that is larger and more expansive than its original, the L/V Gray Manatee.

This will be used in a course that combines stability and damage control, according to Denise Johnston, Resolve Maritime Academy director.

Using props meant to simulate flooding from breaches, broken pipes and hatches, the new wet trainer is designed to give a vessel's first responders the knowledge and understanding  to deal with survivable hull breaches.

Located next to the L/V Gray Manatee in Port Everglades, the academy’s new wet trainer is one of the largest in the industry. Four times the size of the first, the wet trainer is 40 feet long and eight feet wide, two stories high and spans 640 square feet.

Featuring a wet room for practicing different types of damage control techniques and a flooding room to run scenarios ranging from command tactics to damage assessment, as well as second flood access, the trainer gives students the ability to enter the flooded compartment from above thus incorporating modern standard operating procedures into their training. Practical exercises can incorporate individual client SOPs for damage control, Resolve said.

'Based on some recent incidents, the industry has been looking for specialized training so we are building the wet trainer to meet their needs and be able to evolve for future training,' said Clifford Charlock, Fire School manager.

Offered as a five-day course, 'Stability and Damage Control' encourages team building, correct decision-making and proper damage control tactics in a setting that allows hands-on skills in a safe but stressful environment. Students will cover NAPA damage stability, case studies, cross and down flooding and flooding mitigation in the classroom before being tested in the wet trainer.