by Laura Colognesi
VENICE – “The favorable wind designs every new route,” stated Elena Donazzan, Vice President of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the first to believe in the cutting-edge project of the Accademia Logistica & Mare, which today presented at the port of Venice its four new state-of-the-art immersive simulators for the operation of ships and tugboats to support the two-year post-diploma courses.
“A historic day for the Venetian port: the 4 million euro investment, realized thanks to Pnrr Funds and with the technical collaboration of the historic maritime staff training consortium Venice Maritime School (Vemars), is the fruit of teamwork that merges the consolidated expertise of the ITS Marco Polo Academy, integrating within itself qualified training for the world of Sea, Land, and Logistics. “A concrete response to businesses and the world of work that places human value at the center,” the first example in Italy where one of the most sought-after figures by the labor market is “built” with a 360° training proposal that includes 3 years of post-diploma training and 12 months of on-board training. “The real challenge,” emphasized the MEP, “was to match demand and supply. The business world is fundamental, but what makes the difference, and gives the added value, will always and only be the human value of the crew.”
The ribbon-cutting
The main headquarters is located in the port area of Santa Marta in Venice, but teaching activities also take place in Mestre, Treviso, Portogruaro (VE) and Rovigo, an integral part of the ZLS Simplified Logistics Zone Porto di Venezia e Rodigino project.
No longer just theory but “cutting-edge tools that will allow students to prepare to operate in ports all over the world, in continuity with the mission of the Coast Guard: to guarantee safety, environmental protection, and the regularity of maritime activities,” highlighted at the opening Filippo Marini, Commander of the Port of Venice and Maritime Director of Veneto, emphasizing the “millennial maritime vocation of the lagoon city. A decisive step to train the mariners of tomorrow: the students training with these simulators today will be able to embark and work in ports and maritime scenarios all over the world. It is precisely in this transition from training to employment that the institutional duties of the Coast Guard intertwine: ensuring the safety of navigation, the safeguarding of human life at sea, the protection of the environment, and the orderly conduct of port activities.”
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“A new vision of the future: choosing the logistics and the most suitable mode for each individual. A high-quality technological path that combines digitalization and new skills” is the hope for the new generations of Damaso Zanardo, president of the Accademia Logistica & Mare, proud to lead a “state-of-the-art facility that has filled a training gap with the creation of the Academy, already present in other port cities but which was missing in Venice.”
“This is proven by the enrollment data, which for the two-year period 2025-2027 recorded an increase of +23%. Today, our employability rate, referring to graduates who find work within one year, already exceeds 93%.
With these technologies, we can further reduce the mismatch between the demand and supply of highly specialized profiles”.
Present at the event were Elena Donazzan, vice-president of the European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, Paola Frassinetti, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Merit (MIM), Valeria Mantovan, councilor for Education of the Veneto Region, Andrea Tomaello, deputy mayor of Venice with responsibility for the Port, Rear Admiral Filippo Marini, commander of the Port of Venice and maritime director of Veneto, and Damaso Zanardo, president of the Accademia Logistica & Mare, which includes, in addition to the ITS Marco Polo and Vemars, the Intermodal Logistics Training Center (CFLI).
“A project carried forward with great determination and in which the current Government has strongly believed and invested – added Paola Frassinetti, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education and Merit – by incentivizing the 4+2 chain which sees the enhancement of ITS as a lever for the revival of post-diploma technical vocational training, capable of guaranteeing young people concrete and immediate opportunities for qualified employment and businesses with strategic skills for competitiveness”.
“The Veneto ITS (ITS Academy Veneto is the network of the 8 ITS Foundations in the Region, ed.) are today the most advanced point of higher technical training in Italy and Veneto has managed to make it a winning model. With the new simulators, we are not only celebrating a technological investment, but we are reaffirming a vision: to give our young people concrete tools to enter the world of work as protagonists and to offer businesses highly specialized skills – underlined Valeria Mantovan, councilor for Education of the Veneto Region”.
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The four simulators in detail
Navigation simulators (ship and tugboat)
They offer a highly realistic simulation of the docking of ships and tugboats in the world’s main ports. Thanks to a visibility of over 300 degrees from the bridge, virtual reality systems and large liquid crystal monitors, students of the courses for Engine Officer and Deck Officer will be able to practice in varying weather and sea conditions, face emergencies in the engine room and learn operational procedures as if they were actually on board. Next to the simulators, two training areas with six ship bridges have been created for activities on radar, communications and digital chart management.
Railway simulator
An absolute novelty in the path for Train Driver and Train Preparer, it allows students to obtain the European driving license and the qualifications for maneuvering, training and train verification. In the absence of the possibility of training on a real line, the simulator allows them to familiarize themselves with driving cabs, diagnostic systems and signaling, simulating different modes of circulation, weather conditions and emergency situations, including failures and unforeseen events. The line chosen for virtual training is the Ferrara-Bologna line, one of the most complete for the complexity and variety of its safety systems.
Simulator for port cranes
The other novelty concerns the simulation of operating Ship-to-Shore cranes, reach stackers (vehicles for handling intermodal containers) and other terminal equipment.
The system integrates a mobile cabin, six high-resolution screens, and software capable of reproducing accelerations, vibrations, and slippages in an extremely realistic way. Students of the Logistics Manager and Port and Airport Logistics courses will be able to train safely, improve risk awareness, and acquire skills on different models of equipment in use in modern ports.
