Lt.-Cmdr. Mark Raeburn peers out the Canadian frigateB次元官网网址檚 windows.

Ahead, layers of ice coat the surface of the Arctic waters against a backdrop of snow-covered hills. Snowflakes begin to fall.

This is the Arctic B次元官网网址� only the view from the ship's bridge is computer-generated, just as the snow and scenery are.

Raeburn works the control panel inside the simulator at Venture, the Naval Officers Training Centre at Work Point in Esquimalt, and the snowflakes disappears.

The school recently made Canadian naval history when seven students were put through their paces during a new Arctic operations course.

The navigation course is one of four in the world, and one of two that provides Arctic training.

For five days, three Canadian and four New Zealand naval ship commanders, navigators or operations officers learned what it takes to sail CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Arctic waters.

B次元官网网址淎side from going up there yourself, this is about as (realistic) as we can make it,B次元官网网址� said Raeburn, head of navigation training at Venture, and one of five instructors who taught the pilot project. B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 very hard to get this kind of experience.B次元官网网址�

The course, which took a year to develop, will next be offered in February 2012 as part of a full Arctic training program. The navigation portion, including simulator training, will be offered at Venture.

For three days in the classroom, students learn about Arctic regulations and sovereignty, ice formations, ship design and manoeuvring through ice. They take what they learn and apply it to situations they face in the simulator.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a very challenging environment and certainly you do need some kind of training before youB次元官网网址檙e up there, especially when it comes to ice B次元官网网址� 90 per cent of it lies under the surface and thatB次元官网网址檚 what you have to worry about,B次元官网网址� Raeburn said.

Even veteran mariners face countless challenges in the Arctic, such as limited global positioning system coverage. Navigating the Northwest Passage B次元官网网址� a sea route through CanadaB次元官网网址檚 Arctic archipelago that connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans B次元官网网址� is also risky.

B次元官网网址淎s soon as you start straying off those (routes), youB次元官网网址檙e actually operating into unknown territory,B次元官网网址� said Raeburn, who has travelled to the Arctic and Antarctic.

The timing of the Venture course is no accident, given the federal governmentB次元官网网址檚 move to assert its authority along 162,000 kilometres of Arctic coastline.

Currently, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 naval vessels arenB次元官网网址檛 able to sail year-round in northern waters, especially when there is ice, but that will change when two federal shipbuilding contracts B次元官网网址� worth a combined $35 billion B次元官网网址� are awarded, possibly later this month or in October.

Up to eight armed Arctic and offshore patrol ships will be built to navigate and crunch through ice-filled Arctic waters, conduct surveillance, enforce CanadaB次元官网网址檚 sovereignty and do search and rescue operations.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e actually looking then at extending the navyB次元官网网址檚 reach into the Arctic, and thatB次元官网网址檚 why we have to start these courses now, for us to get a corporate knowledge of the Arctic and start building that back up again,B次元官网网址� Raeburn said. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to generate that now so that in five yearsB次元官网网址� time, when we start operating these vessels, we wonB次元官网网址檛 be going up there blindly.

"WeB次元官网网址檒l have a good idea of what weB次元官网网址檙e getting ourselves in for.B次元官网网址�