HER Royal Highness, the Princess Royal has launched a few ships in her time but this week she took the helm.

The Princess was visiting Warsash Maritime Academy's ship handling centre at Timsbury Lake.

She she had a tour of the lake aboard the ‘Challenger’ , which is a scale model of a ro-ro ferry.

The lake includes a four-mile scale length canal, buoyed channels, critical bends, turning basins, and harbour areas with 19 jetties. Complex and potentially hazardous manoeuvres can be learnt and practised in a scaled environment.

The focus of training for masters, officers, pilots and berthing/mooring masters is around slow speed control of ships and large yachts.

Earlier in the day the Princess launched Southampton Solent University’s new £6 million home for officer cadet training and first certification courses.

Her Royal Highness unveiled a plaque inside the building, which is located within the grounds of City College.

The new premises provides cadets with a distinct and modern teaching environment, brand new engineering workshops, a welding area, electrical and control laboratories, an ECDIS simulator suite and Marine-Electro-Technical Officer (METO) workshops.

Her Royal Highness was received by the Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire, Nigel Atkinson Esq, and was presented to a number of dignitaries including the Vice-Chancellor of Solent, Professor Graham Baldwin, Chancellor of Solent, Lord Admiral West, Director of School Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering, Dr Syamantak Bhattacharya, and staff and cadets.

Professor Baldwin added: “The development at St. Mary’s Campus is the first phase of our investment plans into maritime education and training at Solent. It has modernised our facilities and allows us to build on the heritage and expertise associated with Warsash Maritime Academy. We are proud that Warsash has become world-renowned for providing a cadetship programme and a number of professional short courses for more than 70 years.”