Ghent University professor collaborated remarkable opening ceremony of Olympic Games: "The pressure was on"

No traditional opening for the Olympic Games in Paris, but a spectacular fleet of 85 boats on the Seine with 10,500 athletes on board. It was a historic moment and a technical feat. The research group of Evert Lataire, Ghent University professor of Ships and Marine Technology, trained the captains for this unique boat parade.

Ships in shallow water

Professor Evert Lataire's Ships and Marine Technology research group conducts research into the behaviour of ships in shallow water, among other things. "We focus on canals and rivers where ships have little room to manoeuvre," professor Lataire explains.

"For example, we are investigating the maximum size of container ships to sail on the Scheldt. Or under what conditions an adapted inland vessel is allowed to sail in the North Sea. We are also researching the placement of floating solar panels and aquaculture between offshore wind turbines."

For this research, Ghent University is working closely with Flanders Hydraulics Research (WL) of the Flemish government: "We share a knowledge centre and we use their facilities in Antwerp and Ostend. For instance simulators and towing tanks, gigantic swimming pools in which we tow ships."

Simulator development

"In our research, we map out all kinds of factors: current, how deep or shallow the water is, bridges, rudder angles, whether there is sufficient margin and what forces are at play on the ship through the seabed and banks. We use those data to create mathematical models that we input in a simulator."

"The simulators of Flanders Hydraulics that we are co-developing are like a flight simulator but for ships. They differ from commercial models because they work on the basis of the extensive data from specific trials. The visuals may be less spectacular, but the hydrodynamic effects are much more expansive, realistic and continuously customisable."

Risky parade

It is precisely these simulators that came in handy in the preparation of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Professor Lataire's research group, together with Flanders Hydraulics Research and IMDC, was approached by the French DRIEAT (Direction régionale et interdépartementale de l'environnement, de l'aménagement et des transports) to train and prepare the skippers of the boat parade on the simulators.

"A fleet of almost a hundred boats on the Seine is risky. A long trip, a lot of current, many ships in convoy sailing relatively close to each other at a high pace, while one and a half billion people worldwide are watching. There was a lot of pressure," says Professor Lataire.

"If someone falls overboard, it can have major consequences. If a ship fails or blacks out, everything will stall. And you can't just brake with a ship, it needs up to 10 times its own length to do so."

"Although most of the skippers involved sail on the Seine on a daily basis, they are not used to these conditions. But unfortunately it was not feasible to practice on the Seine beforehand. That's why they asked us to simulate the trip."

Fireworks in the simulator

In the week leading up to the opening ceremony, each skipper had to train for at least 45 minutes on portable simulators to prepare for the journey.

The exercise was as realistic as possible. Professor Lataire: "Among other things, fireworks were added to the simulator because they can distract the skippers. The simulators also include buildings such as Notre-Dame and the Louvre: these are benchmarks for the skippers to turn or slow down."

"Fortunately, thanks to our joint expertise with Flanders Hydraulics, we already had knowledge of the environment, ships and currents from our previous studies for the French waterway authority. They very recently gave permission to larger inland vessels to sail on the Seine. That's a direct result of our research."