VIDEO: BMT unveils new Digital Innovation & Simulation Center (DISC)

Image: BMT

BMT today announced the opening of its Digital Innovation & Simulation Center (DISC) at its Fareham, U.K., site.

The facility has been created to transform how BMT teams and customers innovate, collaborate and de‑risk decisions across complex maritime and multi‑domain programs.

The company says that DISC strengthens its digital‑first ambition and turns its U.K.–Europe regional strategy into a tangible customer experience.

Building on more than 40 years of experience in maritime simulation and digital consultancy, and a heritage that traces back to the British Ship Research Association and National Maritime Institute, DISC brings together BMT’s flagship innovations in one integrated space.

The facility is powered by the award‑winning BMT Rembrandt navigation simulator – a DNV‑accredited system used globally for port feasibility, pilotage training and quantitative navigation studies – alongside new digital visualization and synthetic environments that support autonomy assurance, cyber resilience and advanced incident analysis.

The self‑contained facility includes a reconfigurable full mission bridge (FMB) for defense and commercial vessels, two 360‑degree pod simulators, two small‑vessel simulators, a remote operations center(ROC), a scenario control room, an instructor/briefing room and multiple meeting and breakout spaces.

One of the U.K.’s largest specialized LED video walls provides an immersive canvas for multi‑vessel operations, port and coastal studies, complex tow‑outs, incident reconstructions and investor‑ready digital storyboards.

Underpinning the full mission bridge is BMT Rembrandt’s high‑fidelity hydrodynamic engine, which enables everything from tug and pilot training through to litigation‑grade incident reconstruction and ship‑to‑ship transfer analysis.

DISC also hosts the MASS SEAS (Marine Autonomous Surface Ship Synthetic Environment Assurance System) synthetic environment, allowing customers and regulators to run DNV‑grade, simulator‑based trials of autonomous navigation systems and demonstrate compliance with emerging MASS and COLREGs requirements in a modern, DNV “Class A” accredited simulator facility.

Beyond navigation, says the company, BMT Engage – powered by Unreal Engine – allows users to create photorealistic digital twins, virtual ship walk‑throughs and cyber and wargaming scenarios, as well as immersive VR/AR training programmes and human–machine interface evaluations. These capabilities directly support BMT’s autonomy campaign, digital ports work, ship design assurance and global marine incident analysis, making DISC an enabler for high-value programs such as MRSS (Multi-Role Support Ship) design, ports growth and maritime autonomous systems.

“DISC is a bold step forward in our digital‑first journey,” said BMT CEO Sarah Kenny. “By combining immersive simulation, autonomous systems assurance and advanced visualization in a single, secure environment, we’re giving our customers a digital canvas where they can explore options, test complex scenarios and make faster, better‑informed decisions – all while reducing risk and time to market.”

Jake Rigby, global head of innovation and research at BMT, added:
“For us, DISC isn’t just a simulator suite, it is a launchpad for innovation. It brings together our proprietary Rembrandt and Engage technologies and our synthetic assurance environments in one place, so defense and commercial partners can build trusted autonomous and digital solutions.”