Search

The automatic collision avoidance system introduced in this paper is a system constantly calculating optimal manoeuvring method from the risk and economic preference in the ship manoeuvring space where the course change and the deceleration are performed. The authors also propose a system that quantitatively evaluates the collision avoidance manoeuvring results. Based on the evaluation results of this system, the authors are setting parameters so that ship manoeuvring that does not give anxiety to target ships to be avoided is also realized in automatic collision avoidance manoeuvring. In addition, comparison between the manoeuvring results of the automatic collision avoidance system and the veteran captain's manoeuvring results was quantitatively compared by the proposed evaluation system. Verification experiments were successfully conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed automatic collision avoidance system on the actual ship navigating in congested waters.

The growing number of large container vessels is the reason of port infrastructure modernization necessity and changes of local bylaws in ports. The accessibility studies based on ship motion simulation allow for the assessment of manoeuvring operations safety for the new port designs and reconstructions of the existed infrastructure. Several factors can be used to determine safety of manoeuvring operations. The paper presents an approach to determine the operational reliability which can be included in an accessibility study to determine the best of the possible solutions with respect to the ship entrance into the harbour. The general reliability model has been proposed and an example of reliability of ship entrance into the Port of Gdynia is presented.

The paper presents new results on the inherent properties of ship linear dynamics. The focus is made on the second-order formulation for the uncoupled equations of sway and yaw, and on their unique, unknown performance within the zigzag test. From the standpoint of application to full-mission model tuning, a very important loop in the drift-yaw domain of the zigzag behaviour, as governed by the rudder rate dependent time constants (of T3-type), is brought to the light. This and some other dependent effects, like overshoot angle performance, are likely to be lost, if the well-known, rather ambiguous, first-order approximations are deployed.

The safety of the tankers during the Ship-to-Ship operations carried out in shallow water close to port limit is influenced by many factors. Based on the experience of ship crew involved in STS operation it was found that area for such operation and weather analyses is the most important factors affecting the safety of the tankers. Wind speed and accompanying waves very often determine if such operation could be commenced. For the article simulations were carried out with maximum allowable wind speed and waves for such operation to obtain the drift of both tankers and capacity of area for STS operation. The results obtained from simulations allowed to assess the required space for tankers involved in STS operation.

The concept of the pivot point of a turning ship has been in existence for more than two centuries. It was not, however, properly understood from the beginning, and thus some misconceptions developed. This in turn caused it to be viewed as something mystical, thus preventing ship handling from scientific approach. The concept is expounded in a fresh light, deriving an equation for the definition and others for the calculation of the pivot point location both in general and for specific examples in an idealized condition. The implications of the derived equations are discussed. The results of a verification experiment are presented, which proved centuries’ of teachings and learnings to have been incorrect. A number of exercises for both steady and unsteady cases have been suggested for the training of the practitioners in the light of these new findings.

Manoeuvring characteristics of the vessels at the head-on situation are examined in this study. The meetings between the power-driven vessels are considered based on their propellers. These vessels can either have a single propeller or double propellers. A vessel with a single right-handed propeller alters her course to port side easier than the starboard side. There exists an unnoticed gap, therefore the authors discuss the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs), Rule 14, considering the vessel orientation based on its propeller walk. After presenting all possible cases and their probable consequences, this paper offers authorities to embed the information of propeller characteristics into the Automatic Identification Systems (AIS) in order to prevent misunderstandings during the VHF communications, probable collision risks and discussions on liability issues in case of marine accidents.

The MONALISA 2.0 (ML 2.0) project aims to define the Sea Traffic Management concept (STM), where information is shared amongst all stakeholders in the maritime transport chain, including nautical officers, ports, administrations, etc. Thus, a communication and information centered approach for data exchange by System Wide Information Management principles changing from surface-based- to voyage-based-operations has been proposed. Amongst others, testing and verifying the feasibility and benefits of STM and its solutions shall be done in the European Maritime Simulator Network (EMSN), a macro simulation environment for ship handling simulators. This is an open IEEE 1278 standard network protocol enabling interactive communication between distributed simulation environments. Based on an introduction into ML 2.0, the proposed STM concept is introduced, its expected impacts are listed and Key Performance Objectives are derived. The backgrounds on the EMSN are given and it is shown how it can assist in assessing the impact of STM’s Key Performance Indicators.

The paper presents comparison of the ‘Person over board’ manoeuvres. The article was based on research con-ducted on a group of students of the Faculty of Navigation of Gdynia Maritime University. People involved in studies previously conducted on board training on school training ships: "Dar M?odzie?y" and "Horyzont II", but did not have experience as an officers. Research was carried on the Polaris Ships Bridge Simulator, located at the faculty of Navigation, of Gdynia Maritime University.

This paper is devoted to expand the very promising research undertaken in the author's previous work, basically done on simplified modelling the escort push operation. Now, the other two modes of a tug's employment, as stated in the title, are covered. The special focus is again set on the indirect towing in that the towline force is much higher than the thruster force. The ratio of these two forces, referred to as the relative towing force (or amplification ratio) is evaluated together with the hull drift angle and the thruster(-s) angle for a given escort speed. This mutual relationship is known as the tug performance diagram. Although rather generic (container-type) formulas are derived, they are supplied for exemplification purposes with simple, analytically given hull hydrodynamic forces. The aim is also here to provide a basis for further sensitivity analysis of the model and possible improvement/optimisation to the tug design. The obtained charts also could serve as rough and clear guidance for towmasters while escorting.

A fast time simulation tool box is under development to simulate the ships motion with complex dynamic models and to display the ships track immediately for the intended or actual rudder or engine manoeuvre. Based on this approach the innovative Simulation Augmented Manoeuvring Design and Monitoring - SAMMON tool box will allow for (a) a new type of design of a manoeuvring plan as enhancement exceeding the common pure way point planning (b) an unmatched monitoring of ship handling processes to follow the underlying manoeuvring plan. During the manoeuvring process the planned manoeuvres can be constantly displayed together with the actual ship motion and the predicted future track which is based on actual input data from the ship's sensors and manoeuvring handle positions. This SAMMON tool box is intended be used on board of real ships but it is in parallel an effective tool for training in ship handling simulators: (a) in the briefing for preparing a manoeuvring plan for the whole exercise in some minutes, (b) during the exercise run to see the consequences of the use of manoeuvring equipment even before the ship has changed her motion and (c) in debriefing sessions to discuss potential alternatives of the students decisions by simulating fast variations of their choices during the exercises. Examples will be given for results from test trials on board and in the full mission ship handling simulator of the Maritime Simulation Centre Warnemuende.