Our last day started at Bernard Schulte Shipmanagement Training Center right in Limassol. This was one of my favorite company visits of the trip. I appreciated that it wasn’t a traditional sit down lecture and that we were able to learn while we toured the facility. My favorite room we got to see was the bridge simulation room. In this room, small groups are able to gain exposure to real-life marine experiences via realistic simulation technology. The room is made up of a typical command center, including things like a steering wheel, and a large screen, similar to what a captain would see while steering a ship. Students are typically in the training room for 40 minutes. Some training scenarios include collision avoidance, anchoring operations, helicopter landings, and man overboard.In the adjoining room is the computer where you can control the conditions the students must navigate the ship through. You can change things such as the place in the world, time of day, weather, number of other ships in the water, topography, and water conditions. For example, while we were in there, the students navigating through the rain ran their ship aground!
After the bridge room, we got to see the rest of the training facilities. While training, cadets live on site. BSM has cabins, laundry rooms, a kitchen, and dining area. We got to tour the small ship cabins which house up to 3 cadets. One thing I found interesting was how long the crew stays on the ship at a time. A ship’s crew is typically at sea for 3 to 4 months based on studies done on sailor psychological health.
Once we were done at BSM, we headed over to Omodos Village up in the Trodos Mountains. I was very excited to go to another village since I enjoyed Lefkara so much. After we arrived we had a delicious mezze of traditional Cypriot foods. My favorite was the sesame seed covered fried halloumi. Once lunch was finished, I walked around the village, bought some gifts at the local shops, and enjoyed the gorgeous views.
We ended the evening with a dinner at Dionysus Mansion, where some Pitt alumni joined us. Although I didn’t get a chance to talk to them, it was cool seeing that there were a group of alumni living and working in Cyprus. Although dinner wasn’t my favorite meal of the trip, it was nice (and a little bittersweet) to spend one last meal with everyone before we left.