The ultimate boys' toys: £150,000 replica supertankers which are used to train the captains of tomorrow

By Caroline Grant for MailOnline
Updated:

The real thing is a quarter of a mile long and full of highly flammable cargo - and must be safely piloted on the high seas. 

So it's no wonder they start you out on one of these little ones.

The two little boats seen here are replica oil supertankers, used for training captains who want to take charge of the real thing.

mini supertankers

Ultimate boat trip: Students practice on the mini supertankers at the Warsash Maritime Academy, Portsmouth

They are electronically powered and worth £150,000 - which rules them out as a toy, for those who thought they looked like great fun.

The students at the Warsash Maritime Academy in Southampton are being prepared to deal with conditions on some of the roughest seas in the world.

The engines on the little boats can be deliberately failed by remote control to test how they cope in a crisis.

supertankers school

Boys toys: Learning to master the mini supertankers takes skill and patience

Trainee pilot Matt Sicard, 34, from Montreal, Canada, said: 'The boats might look like the sort of things your kids play with in the bath, but they are very hard to control.

'They realistically mimic the movements of a supertanker but on a gentler scale, which makes them ideal for learning on.'

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