ARIELL in the Romanian Press: Coverage of the Connected Simulators

16
Sep

Excerpt

The first real-time connection between the inland navigation simulators in Drobeta-Turnu Severin and Duisburg drew coverage across Romanian media within 24 hours.

Article

On 11 February 2026, the University of Craiova connected its Wärtsilä NT Pro 5000 inland navigation simulator to the simulator at Schiffer-Berufskolleg RHEIN in Duisburg — the first time two such simulators have been operated as a single training environment for inland waterway transport education in Europe. Within a day, the achievement was reported by at least six Romanian outlets.

Coverage appeared on 12 February 2026 in Gazeta de Sud, which accompanied its report with video from the simulator room; Cuvântul Libertății; Indiscret în Oltenia; Craiova Forum; Oltenășul; and Buna Ziua Iași, carrying the story well beyond the Oltenia region.

The reports consistently highlighted the same points: that students in Drobeta-Turnu Severin now train and are assessed under the same conditions as candidates in Germany preparing for the boatmaster certificate; that joint simulation allows complex scenarios to run in real time, with crews coordinated across two countries and critical situations rehearsed in a controlled environment; and that examination and competence standards are being harmonised at European level.

Several outlets also set out how the achievement came about. The simulator in Drobeta-Turnu Severin was acquired two years ago through the University’s own institutional funds. Common training scenarios were then developed through the Erasmus+ project ARIELL (2024-1-DE02-KA220-VET-000245711) together with Schiffer-Berufskolleg RHEIN, the Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems, Fachhochschule Oberösterreich and Navi Barging. The German Federal Ministry of Transport allocated a further 100,000 euro for the technical connection itself, which was delivered by specialists from the University of Craiova, Schiffer-Berufskolleg RHEIN, Wärtsilä and the Fraunhofer Center for Maritime Logistics and Services.

The reporting placed the initiative in the context of persistent demand from shipping companies, which continue to report a shortage of qualified personnel in inland navigation — the labour-market gap ARIELL was set up to address.

Media coverage