Some of you already guessed it: this towboat has flanking rudders!

Sergeant Toby has two engines driving two propellers, with large rudders behind the propellers and smaller rudders in front. These flanking rudders can help the towboat steer better while the engine is in reverse.

In the meantime, we are also working on an accompanying environment for this vessel. Do you have an idea which one it is?

Say hello to Sergeant Toby, a towboat made for river work. This vessel will be added in two variations: one without and one with barges, giving you two different ways to experience its handling.

This vessel is all about inland waterway work. We will share more about its propulsion and steering setup soon, but here is your hint: part of it helps the vessel steer while reversing.

Can you guess what it is?

More details on the update coming soon, so keep an eye out!

We’re excited to share that VSTEP will be at Maritime Industry 2026 from 2–4 June in Gorinchem, the event that brings together thousands of professionals and innovators from across inland shipping.

In a sector that never stands still, training and simulation need to move with it. That’s why we’re looking forward to showing how the NAUTIS ecosystem helps maritime professionals and teams build and maintain their skills, wherever they are, and whenever it matters.

Here’s what you can explore at our stand:

• NAUTIS Instructor

• NAUTIS Inland simulator

• Remote Ops

• NAUTIS Home

Registration to the event is free, so if you are curious to learn more about VSTEP and how we support training from classroom instruction to remote and home-based learning, we invite you to our booth and try out the demo simulators.

Information:

📅 2–4 June 2026
📍 Booth K14
🏛️ Gorinchem, The Netherlands

 Let us know if you plan to swing by, we would love to have a chat with you!

New update is live!

We’re pulling into this release with a few additions that make individual practice clearer and more varied. 

In this update, you will find:
⚓ Basic Towage: Towage makes its first introduction in NAUTIS Home through premade, structured scenarios. Users can start exploring tug operations with the tugs Olena and Grutte Pier in a fictional port environment. The scenarios also include simulated towing forces in kilonewtons. When the maximum force is exceeded, the towline can snap, adding an important layer of realism.

⚓ Improved Navigation Lights: Navigation lights have been updated to behave more clearly and realistically in different conditions, including fog, distance, and night-time operations.

⚓ Top-down Mooring Cam: A new camera angle that shows the vessel from straight above. It is especially useful during mooring and close-quarter manoeuvring, where a little extra perspective can make a big difference.

This release also includes additional improvements across NAUTIS Home, with more developments already on the horizon. Take a look at the full release notes and the updated roadmap to see what is new and what is coming next 👇

Release notes: https://bit.ly/49W9nKO
Development roadmap: https://community.nautishome.com/roadmap

The upcoming NAUTIS Home update will introduce the Top-down Mooring Cam: a new camera option that gives you a view from straight above your vessel.

When you’re close to the quay, lining up your approach, or checking how your vessel sits in the available space, this view gives you a clearer overview of the space you have to work with during close manoeuvring.

We're curious to see how you will use this extra perspective in practice, coming soon!

Ahoy! 

We would like to share news regarding the upcoming NAUTIS Home update. 

Over the past period, our team has been working intensively on a major software update, including Basic Towing, Basic Traffic, and several improvements. Our goal is to ensure these features meet the level of realism and quality you expect from us. 

During the final testing phase, we identified issues within the Basic Traffic feature. Specifically, traffic behavior is currently not as realistic as intended based on historic AIS data. Rather than releasing a feature that does not meet our standards, or yours, we have made the decision to postpone Basic Traffic shortly to allow more time to fix the issues.  

To avoid delaying the entire update, we will proceed soon with the release of Basic Towing and the Navigation improvements as planned. 

We understand that Basic Traffic is a highly anticipated feature, and this decision may be disappointing. We are actively working on resolving these issues and plan to deliver Basic Traffic in a dedicated follow-up release, in which we will also introduce new content. More on this soon! Thank you for your continued support, patience, and trust.  

Hello everyone!

We have uploaded a manual on USB control mapping to the Reference Hub.

This guide walks you through everything, from checking if your device is compatible to mapping controls in NAUTIS Home.

If you’re setting up or troubleshooting your controls, this is a great place to start.

Following your feedback, we’ve been refining navigation lights to make reduced visibility feel clearer and more realistic.

As you can see in the before and after images the halos will be smaller, and navigation lights will appear and disappear in sync with the environment lights instead of behaving differently.

That also means clustered lights will be easier to separate from further away, while improved visibility angles will help the lights behave more naturally around the vessel, giving you a more realistic experience.