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The possibility to subdivide a deck of a ro-ro ship to contain heat and smoke by means of a fabric curtain descending from the ceiling (i.e., the deckhead) is studied experimentally using a reduced-scale experimental setup. As an important part of the study, the requirements of the international convention of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) are investigated for so-called 'open ro-ro decks' in comparison with 'closed ro-ro decks'. To analyse the experiments, sensors are used to measure the opacity levels as well as the gas temperatures and concentrations. These measurements helped quantify the degree of stratification of the smoke, its concentration of soot, and carbon monoxide levels, making it possible to analyze the effects of containment induced by the fabric curtain. The results show that the fabric curtain considerably reduces the gas temperatures and the soot concentration upstream of the curtain if it descends completely (i.e., to the floor level), while it does not disturb the stratification of smoke. The containment of smoke is more enhanced when multiple fabric curtains are used, and a comparison with a water curtain shows that the fabric curtain offers better smoke containment. Finally, the most optimal containment effect is achieved using a system that combines a fabric curtain with a water curtain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly restrictive environmental regulations for the maritime sector have led shipping companies to look for technological alternatives to reduce emissions. This article introduces a methodology to analyse emission reductions of ships in port by incorporating batteries into the ships or using an onshore power supply system. These have not yet been considered together for comparison or with a focus on ship operation. The aim is to avoid the use of auxiliary engines in ports. First, the cost calculation method to be used is specified; then, the engine's behaviour and the established basic navigation criteria are analysed; and finally, different alternatives are considered. A methodology is afterwards defined for selecting alternatives, comparing their costs with those of using auxiliary engines in port. As an example, it is applied to a Ro-Ro route between the ports of Montoir (France) and Vigo (Spain). The results indicate that incorporating batteries into the ship produces greater savings in annual costs than onshore power supply. The cost savings from onshore power supply depend on the range of prices in each port. However, the greatest emission savings are obtained by using the onshore power supply. This methodology can be extrapolated to other routes and vessels by incorporating real operating data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Türkiye's extensive coastline and geopolitics position necessitates the importance of Ro-Ro transportation with neighbouring countries. Türkiye's rapidly growing Ro-Ro transportation significantly contributes to imports and exports, which is of great importance to the national economy. Samsun Port is one of the most active ports in Türkiye's Ro-Ro transportation sector, operating in the Black Sea region. This study examined Ro-Ro transportation at Samsun Port, and future cargo forecasting was conducted. For this purpose, artificial neural networks and time series analysis methods were combined. Input variables used in the study included the number of Ro-Ro ships arriving at the port between 2009 and 2021, population figures, a specialized CPI indicator (fresh fruits and vegetables), and export values. The output variable was the amount of cargo carried by Ro- Ro ships. According to the results obtained, it was observed that Samsun Port would have sufficient capacity for Ro-Ro transportation in the next 27 months in terms of wharf, port area, and operational space. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid increase of economic globalization, the significant expansion of shipping volume has resulted in shipping route congestion, causing the necessity of trajectory prediction for effective service and efficient management. While trajectory prediction can achieve a relatively high level of accuracy, the performance and generalization of prediction models remain critical bottlenecks. Therefore, this article proposes a dual-attention (DA) based end-to-end (E2E) neural network (DAE2ENet) for trajectory prediction. In the E2E structure, long short-term memory (LSTM) units are included for the task of pursuing sequential trajectory data from the encoder layer to the decoder layer. In DA mechanisms, global attention is introduced between the encoder and decoder layers to facilitate interactions between input and output trajectory sequences, and multi-head self-attention is utilized to extract sequential features from the input trajectory. In experiments, we use a ro-ro ship with a fixed navigation route as a case study. Compared with baseline models and benchmark neural networks, DAE2ENet can obtain higher performance on trajectory prediction, and better validation of environmental factors on ship navigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Every year, fires aboard roll-on roll-off (ro-ro) ships result in costly damage to ships and their cargo and, fortunately less frequently, in tragic loss of life. On the other hand, statistical studies have shown that a large proportion of major fire accidents originated in the vehicle decks. To improve the issue of vehicle-deck fires on board ro-ro ships, a performance-based simulation tool was developed to quantify the consequences of these fires on people, ship, and cargo. This tool combines a deterministic computational fluid dynamics model to assess the fire consequences in the vehicle decks and open areas of the ship; a stochastic network model in the accommodation spaces; and a deterministic evacuation model to evaluate the consequences of fire to people on board. This article briefly presents the numerical tools used and their extension to ro-ro ships, then the results obtained for selected fire scenarios on two generic ro-ro ships, varying the location of the fire source, wind conditions, and including one accidental situation due to a loss of integrity of the insulation at the ceiling of the deck from which the fire originated and one scenario where some openings of this deck were closed. People evacuation was simulated for the accidental scenario. Fire consequences are further evaluated in terms of human survivability, in compliance with the life safety performance criteria of the International Maritime Organization, damage to the ship and cargo. A qualitative comparison with reported accident data is presented to assess the consistency of model results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethiopia and Kenya have extended their agreement for infrastructural and port development, allowing Ethiopia to use the land at Lamu Port. This collaboration aims to develop the infrastructure linking Lamu Port to the border town of Moyalle. In Gabon, the Owendo Container Terminal (OCT) commissioned a new bridge that improves container movement within the port and supports the development and modernization of port infrastructure. Tanzania has handed over the construction site for the planned new Mbamba Bay port on Lake Nyasa, which will serve as a vital link for the transportation of food and agricultural products between Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia. Uganda has introduced a new ro-ro vessel, MV Mpungu, to enhance lake transport and trade between Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The vessel has a 21-trailer carrying capacity and will transport various cargo between Port Bell, Mwanza, Jinja, and Kisumu ports. [Extracted from the article]

The paper presents some results on investigations concerning development of a hybrid model for assessment of performance of the ro-ro ships in damaged conditions. The model is devoted towards assessing the performance of the damaged ro-ro ships at the preliminary stage of design. The key problems associated with preparing of such the model are associated with working out a method of assessment of the damaged roro ships performance, investigating all the phenomena which associated with the flooding process of the damaged ro-ro ships and preparing the model itself. Introducing the method of assessment of the damaged roro ships performance it has been assumed that there is a dependence between the arrangement of internal spaces of a ro-ro ship and flooding process. The major phenomena which have been decided to take into account when considering flooding of the ro-ro ships are the flooding understood as the flow of external water into the data damaged compartment, impact of the flooding water on the ship structure and damaged ro-ro ship motion. Knowing the damaged ro-ro ship motion characteristics in time domain it is relatively easy to assess the damaged ro-ro ship performance according to the heeling angle and assess the ro-ro ship design according to the data arrangement of internal spaces. The last research issue is to investigate if the proposed model may be appropriate tool for assessing the performance of the ro-ro ships in damaged conditions at the preliminary stage of design. The aim of this paper is to show how to incorporate the dynamics of the damaged ro-ro ships when assessing the ship performance and safety at the preliminary stage of design. The basic information on the model for estimation of the damaged ro-ro ship behavior during the flooding process is presented. The complexity of this model is shown depending on the approach applied to consider the flooding process itself. The model is devoted towards assessment of performance of the damaged ro-ro ships and it is still under the development according to a Ph.D. research at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering Gdańsk University of Technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction of the Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) raised concerns that ship designers may simply reduce the installed power to satisfy EEDI requirements. To address the problem by in-depth research, EU-funded project SHOPERA (Energy Efficient Safe SHip OPERAtion) developed criteria and acceptance standards for the assessment of sufficiency of propulsion and steering systems of ships for manoeuvrability in adverse conditions. Here, their impact on ships of all types in the EEDI framework is investigated and compared with the statistics of relevant accidents collected in SHOPERA. The comparison shows that the proposed standards seem appropriate for tankers, RoRo cargo vessels, pure car carriers and gas carriers, whereas for small bulk carriers and small general cargo vessels, stricter standards may be needed if the same safety level is targeted for small ships as for large ones. The results also show that ships of almost all types studied can satisfy the proposed standards together with the EEDI phase 3 requirements, excepting bulk carriers and tankers, which can satisfy the proposed standards and EEDI phase 2 requirements but not those of phase 3. For RoRo passenger ships, satisfying the EEDI phase 3 requirements alone may be problematic because of other limitations concerning design and operation. Highlights • Requirements to manoeuvrability in heavy weather are compared with accident data. • For most ship types, insufficient power seems not an important reason of accidents. • However, small bulk carriers and general cargo vessels may need stricter standards. • EEDI phase 2 (but not 3)-compliant bulkers and tankers can satisfy requirements. • All other ship types can combine these requirements with those of EEDI phase 3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 0.1% sulphur limit within Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECA) has made compulsory the use of either pricier ultra-low sulphur fuel, or the installation of abatement technologies that require significant capital investments. Due to the unexpectedly low fuel prices, Ro-Ro operators have been able to cope with the new sulphur limits, but recent research has shown that if fuel prices increase some Ro-Ro services may face the risk of closure. This paper proposes three key performance indicators (KPIs) to enable the asssessment of the impact of SECAs on Ro-Ro shipping. The KPIs are used on a set of case studies for services of a leading European Ro-Ro operator, and allow benchmarking of a series of operational and policy measures that aim to reverse the negative impacts of SECAs. The operational measures consider speed reduction, new sailing frequency, fleet reconfiguration, as well as investments in abatement technologies. Policy measures include the options of either subsidizing shippers or ship operators, or alternatively introducing new taxes on landbased options. The KPIs can be useful to ship operators seeking to improve the resilience of their network, as well as to regulatory bodies designing new environmental policies and understanding any negative implications these may have on ship operators [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Japan, it is becoming difficult to move freight long distances using only trucks, owing to a shortage in truck drivers. In this context, there is a tendency to also actively utilize ferries or roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ships. Intermodal freight transport uses two or more suitable modes of transport from the origin of goods to the destination. In order to promote intermodal freight transport, it is necessary to analyze factors such as the characteristics of transported goods, transportation services and fares, and lot sizes. In this study, we focused on ferries and RORO ships in Japan, and attempted to identify cargoes transported using different modes of transport, based on the net freight flow census. In conclusion, high volumes of "agricultural and fishery products," "metal machinery," "chemical industrial," "light industrial," and "miscellaneous manufacturing products" can be transported using ferries or RORO ships. Specifically, there is a tendency that products are segregated by transportation mode such as a truck, or a ferry and a RORO ship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The RoRo ship MS UND ADRIYATIK was wrecked in February 2008 by a catastrophic fire. The causes of the accident included a combination of human, technical and organizational factors. In this study, the authors describe the accident, its chronology, and the dependencies involved. They then examine some of the erroneous series of human's operations, design and technical errors that led to the disaster and their organizational roots at the time of the accident. Risk-reduction measures can be costly, though; priorities must be set based on costs and benefits. This research suggests ways to support fire prevention efforts. Nine possible reasons were determined to perform a survey suitable for AHP technique. The purpose of this survey is to determine the order of possible explanations for this fire accident and possible provisions and precautions to be taken. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present study, the Eastern Star ferry accident was analyzed via 24Model. 24Model, as an accident causation model based on system thinking, holds that all causations of the accident are hazards and all hazards in the system need to be identified and comprehensively controlled in accident prevention. The result showed that five factors were the main causes of the accident. First, the direct causes: bad weather, the bad condition of the hull and the unsafe acts of the captain. Second, the indirect cause: the lack of safety awareness and safety knowledge of both the captain and the company's senior management. Third, there were loopholes in safety management system, including the training, supervision and execution of the company. Forth, the root cause: the company didn't establish a good safety culture. Last, the external causes: the severe market pressure, excessive regulatory authorities with puzzled relations and responsibilities--seriously hindered effective supervision. In order to prevent this kind of accident and to secure shipping system, the shipping companies and the relevant regulatory units should draw lessons from the five factors mentioned above, and take measures to identify and control those hazards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ro-pax vessels should fulfil the requirements of the current harmonised SOLAS Convention. The study analyses the effect of various ro-pax vessel subdivision arrangements on the subdivision index. A Polish ferry was chosen as a generic ship to perform the study. For illustration of damage survivability, the attained subdivision index A was calculated for a number of modified configurations. The arrangements included single and double sides above and below the car deck, with and without a double buoyant car deck. The conclusions of the study can be used in the design of new ro-pax vessels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In an effort to reduce the environmental impacts of maritime transportation, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) designated special Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) where ships are required to use low-sulphur fuel. In January 2015, the sulphur limit within SECAs was lowered to 0.1%, which can only be achieved if vessels are using pricier ultra-low sulphur fuel, or invest in abatement technologies. The increased operating costs borne by Ro-Ro operators in SECAs due to the stricter limits can result in the shutting down of some routes and a redistribution of cargo flows with land-based alternatives. The exact repercussions of the new sulphur limits are difficult to identify in the wake of significant recent reductions of the fuel prices for both low-sulphur and heavy fuel oil. This paper presents a modal split model that estimates modal shifts vis-a-vis competing maritime and land-based modes available to shippers. This allows examining the implications of the recent low prices to modal choice, and the influence a potential increase in fuel prices may have. The model is applied to seven routes affected by the regulation based on data from a leading European Ro-Ro operator. Sensitivity analyses on market share data, cargo values, freight rates, and haulers rates are conducted. Emissions inventories are constructed to assess the environmental efficacy of the SECA regulation. The novelty of the proposed model lies in the examination of the ex-post implications of shutting down a service and the redistribution of transport. Recommendations to mitigate and reverse the negative side-effects of such environmental legislation are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marine transport has been essential for international trade. Concern for its environmental impact was growing among regulators, classification societies, ship operators, ship owners, and other stakeholders. By applying life cycle assessment, this article aimed to assess the impact of a new-build hybrid system (i.e. an electric power system which incorporated lithium ion batteries, photovoltaic systems and cold-ironing) designed for Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ships. The study was carried out based on a bottom-up integrated system approach using the optimised operational profile and background information for manufacturing processes, mass breakdown and end of life management plans. Resources such as metallic and non-metallic materials and energy required for manufacture, operation, maintenance, dismantling and scrap handling were estimated. During operation, 1.76 × 10 8 kg of marine diesel oil was burned, releasing carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxide which ranged 5–8 orders of magnitude. The operation of diesel gensets was the primary cause of impact categories that were relevant to particulate matter or respiratory inorganic health issues, photochemical ozone creation, eutrophication, acidification, global warming and human toxicity. Disposing metallic scrap was accountable for the most significant impact category, ecotoxicity potential. The environmental benefits of the hybrid power system in most impact categories were verified in comparison with a conventional power system onboard cargo ships. The estimated results for individual impact categories were verified using scenario analysis. The study concluded that the life cycle of a new-build hybrid power system would result in significant impact on the environment, human beings and natural reserves, and therefore proper management of such a system was imperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the experimental and numerical vertical bending moments induced by abnormal waves on two ships, namely, a bulk carrier and a Roll-on/Roll-off. The experimental data was obtained by seakeeping tests with scaled models in head waves at two Froude numbers. The wave traces were predefined and corresponding to wave records measured during storms in the North Sea. These wave records are particularly interesting because each of them includes one abnormal wave. The ship models, which are similar in length but different in their geometry, were tested in the same predefined wave conditions. The objective is to investigate the hull geometry influence on vertical bending moment under extreme sea conditions. Some conclusions are made by comparing directly the measured responses from the two models. The experimental data is also used as benchmark to validate the predictions by a partially nonlinear time domain seakeeping numerical model. The numerical model is then used to generalize the comparative analysis between the two ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents different strategies for handling disruptions in fleet deployment in roll-on roll-off liner shipping, which basically consists of assigning a fleet of vessels to predefined voyages at minimum cost. A new mathematical model of the problem is presented, including a set of robust planning strategies, such as adding slack and rewarding early arrivals. To solve real-life instances a rolling horizon heuristic is proposed. A computational study, where we also propose some recovery planning strategies, is conducted, and simulation results show that adding robustness significantly reduces the actual cost of the plan and the total delays of the voyages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the enforcement of MARPOL Annex VI Regulations for the Prevention of Air Pollution from Ships , retrofitting conventional power plants with emerging technologies is seen as a means to promote sustainability of marine transport and comply with more stringent emissions legislation. However, a knowledge gap exists as the environmental performance of retrofit power plant solutions incorporating emerging technologies has not been examined using an integrated system approach based on Life Cycle Assessment. The purpose of this research was to investigate if integrating selected emerging technologies i.e. photovoltaic systems, lithium-ion batteries, cold ironing and power-take-off/power-take-in systems supplemented by frequency converters and variable frequency drives into an existing power plant would be to the advantage of a chosen ship type i.e. Roll-on/Roll-off cargo ships, from the perspectives of resource consumption and environmental burden. Using the power plant of an existing vessel as a case study, it was found that cast iron, steel, copper and aluminium were the four materials most commonly consumed during manufacturing phase i.e. 2.9 × 10 5 kg, 1.9 × 10 5 kg, 5.3 × 10 4 kg and 2.9 × 10 4 kg respectively. By burning 2.9 × 10 7 kg of heavy fuel oil and 2.3 × 10 8 kg of marine diesel oil during operation, 8.2 × 10 8 kg of carbon dioxide, 1.7 × 10 7 kg of nitrogen oxides, 6.1 × 10 6 kg of sulphur dioxide, 7.6 × 10 5 kg of carbon monoxide, 6.5 × 10 5 kg of hydrocarbon and 4.7 × 10 5 kg of particulate matter would be released. Over a projected 30-year period, emissions released to air and freshwater were found to be significant. Based on 3 characterisation methodologies, ecotoxicity potential, with 7–10 orders of magnitude, was identified as the most significant environmental burden. Consuming and storing resources had the least impact, operating diesel engines and auxiliary generators had a moderate impact, and disposing metallic waste had the highest impact. The research concluded that the environmental burden caused by a marine power plant was significant but retrofitting existing power plant with suitable emerging technologies could reduce a number of impacts by 4–7 orders of magnitude, as verified via scenario analysis. However, the system should be designed and managed with due care as the environmental benefits, such as lower fuel consumption, emission reduction and performance improvement in some environmental measures are always achieved at the expense of an increase in other detrimental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roll-on/roll-off (Ro–Ro) terminals are important logistic hubs dedicated to vessels and transporters and their loading, unloading and temporary storage. This study aims at assessing the impact of managers’ decisions on planning and operational efficiency with a particular focus on vehicle handling. To this end, the terminal operations are described, the operation decisions are analyzed and the costs involved in terminal processes are formalized. The high complexity of the managerial problem, mostly caused by the stochastic nature of the related variables, is resolved with a discrete event simulation model (developed in Arena Rockwell). It supports day-by-day terminal managers’ decisions, enabling the evaluation of the economic impact of different operational alternatives on logistic costs and pollutant emissions. The verification and validation of the model were carried out in a real environment. Finally, an illustrative example of the tool usage is presented in a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the consideration of capsizing time in the design and provisioning of roll-on roll-off (RoRo) ferry boats to improve passenger survivability during accidents. It takes note of the hull flooding, vehicle deck breach and rolling over stages of sinking such that the estimated time to capsizing formula equates to the ship displacement over the fill rate. Scale model studies of professor C.T. Ross on the sinking of the MV Herald of Free Enterprise are also discussed.

The article discusses the provision of carbon dioxide and deluge suppression systems in enclosed roll-on roll-off decks and passenger ferry engine rooms. It takes note of the efficiency of high-pressure water mist hoses as a firefighting tool in incidents such as the M/V Norman Atlantic fire in December 2014. The International Safety Management Code, Safety of Life at Sea convention and the International Code for Fire Safety Systems regulations for suppressing fires are also cited.

The roll-on-roll-off passenger ferry MVESTONIA sank during the night of 28 September 1994 in the Baltic Sea. In October 2000, divers recovered two palm-sized test pieces from the front bulkhead of the wreck. The investigators analysed these specimens to determine whether there were any indications of deliberate blasting. Since the wreck had been submerged for almost six years, it was clear that chemical traces would not be present on the surfaces of the test pieces. Therefore, the investigators performed comparative tests on shipbuilding steel to find a microstructural criterion that exclusively characterises a blast. The shipyard Jos. L. Meyer, Germany, had built the ESTONIA and supplied shipbuilding steel plates similar to that used for building the vessel in 1979/1980. The comparative tests comprised mechanical tests, shot peening tests and blasting tests using different explosives. Testing demonstrated that blasting always formed twinned ferrite grains in the microstructure over the whole cross-section of each of the 8mm thick comparative plates. Although one of the original test pieces of the ESTONIA showed deformation twins, this was only confined up to 0.4mm underneath the surfaces and not spread over the whole cross-section. Comparative shot peening tests produced the very same pattern of subsurface deformation twins. Therefore, the twins detected in the microsection of the test pieces of the ESTONIA wreck traced back to the shot peening process performed by the shipyard in 1979/1980 and not to a deliberate blast. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Alternative Diesel and Gas engine propulsion plants of Ferries and RoRos were studied. [•] Special focus on marine Natural Gas burning engines and ship waste heat recovery systems. [•] Significant savings in annual operating costs were predicted in the case of Natural Gas engines. [•] Environmental and economic optimum propulsion plant alternative was proposed in a specific case study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: As an application to predict and mitigate the out-of-plane welding distortion by elastic FE analysis based on the inherent deformation theory, a panel structure of a pure car carrier ship is considered. The inherent deformations of different types of welded joints included in this ship panel structure are evaluated beforehand using thermal elastic plastic FE analysis. Applying idealized boundary condition to focus on the local deformation, elastic FE analysis shows that the considered ship panel structure will buckle near the edge and only bending distortion is dominant in the internal region. In order to mitigate out-of-plane welding distortion such as buckling and bending, straightening using line heating is employed. In the internal region, only inherent bending with the same magnitude as welding induced inherent bending is applied on the opposite side of welded joints (fast moving torch). On the other hand, only in-plane inherent strain produced by line heating is introduced to the edge region to correct buckling distortion (slow moving torch). The magnitude of out-of-plane welding distortion in this ship panel structure can be minimized to an accepted level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper deals with the strength analysis of structural devices (platform bridges) that fasten cars to a car carrier frame. The loads of all bridges are evaluated along with the indication of the areas of load concentration. The paper presents a brief structural description of platform bridges, including their drawings performed with the help of SolidWorks software. The bridge loads have been analyzed applying Ansys software. According to the results of computer simulation of the loads, dangerous structural areas of the bridges have been identified. While making attempts to solve the established structural problems of such car carriers, suggestions for their structural improvement have been put forward, and computer simulation of loads and stress spread have been performed. The paper ends with conclusions and suggestions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The marine Diesel engines cooling systems and its elements were changing similarly to engines construction. Evolution of the cooling systems tends to reduce sea water pipelines inside engine room. Application of a central cooling system with box coolers completely eliminates sea water pipelines from engine room. Now that solution is rarely used on ships. It can be met on smaller ships, whose power output usually does not exceed 5000 kW, for example: tugs, dredgers, barges, supply vessels, fishing vessels, ferries, cargo freighters, reefers, ice breakers, carriers, etc. - operating inland, as well as in open sea navigation. The article presents an example of practical application of the central cooling system with box coolers on the tug running in Gdynia harbour. In author's opinion, central cooling system with box coolers has a chance to spread out on bigger ships in the future. It will mainly depend on efficiency and reliability of box coolers secure systems. These systems ought to ensure correct operation of a cooling system between ship class dry-dockings. The box coolers used on the presented harbour tug are secured by ICAF system. The article presents also a proposition of solution to the cooling system with box coolers for merchant ship with power output higher up 5000 kW and advantages (disadvantages) of that solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a method for monitoring of racking-induced stresses in ro-ro ships. The approach is built on the assumption that the racking stresses are mainly induced by the roll and sway motions and therewith related inertia and gravity forces. The approach involves real-time measurement of the ship motions and scaling of the measured motions with pre-calculated structural responses from finite element analysis. The method is applied to full-scale measurement data from the Wallenius Lines PCTC Mignon. Derived stresses show good agreement with stresses derived from strain gauge measurements, indicating that the method has potential as an alternative to conventional strain-gauge-based monitoring. Motion-based stress monitoring has several potential areas of application such as providing data for decision support, for live assistance and short-term route planning, structural condition reports and for supplying feedback to the design process. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Given multiple widespread stationary data sources such as ground-based sensors, an unmanned aircraft can fly over the sensors and gather the data via a wireless link. Performance criteria for such a network may incorporate costs such as trajectory length for the aircraft or the energy required by the sensors for radio transmission. Planning is hampered by the complex vehicle and communication dynamics and by uncertainty in the locations of sensors, so we develop a technique based on model-free learning. We present a stochastic optimisation method that allows the data-ferrying aircraft to optimise data collection trajectories through an unknown environment in situ, obviating the need for system identification. We compare two trajectory representations, one that learns near-optimal trajectories at low data requirements but that fails at high requirements, and one that gives up some performance in exchange for a data collection guarantee. With either encoding the ferry is able to learn significantly improved trajectories compared with alternative heuristics. To demonstrate the versatility of the model-free learning approach, we also learn a policy to minimise the radio transmission energy required by the sensor nodes, allowing prolonged network lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ro-ro vessels use shipside and shore ramps as roll-on/roll-off loading facilities. Baltic Sea has not tidal effects and water level did not change very much. In same time water level fluctuations in ports areas make difficulties to establish proper access to shore for ro-ro vessels during loading and unloading operations. Flexibility of ro-ro vessel-to-shore links pan is one of the key elements for optimization of ro-ro operations in ports. Feasibility outline of pontoon ramp potential, calculation methods and practical usage is studded and presented further in the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Simplified mathematical models based upon semi-empirical regression formulae describing forces and moments acting on the hull during manoeuvres are commonly used for the preliminary evaluation of ship steering capabilities. Many semi-empirical regressions have been developed, and are broadly adopted, for the manoeuvrability prediction of single screw slow/medium speed ships. Their application for the study of twin screw vessels (cruise ships, RoRo ferries, megayachts, naval vessels, for which dedicated regression formulae are scarce) manoeuvring capabilities could lead to misleading results. These ships are usually characterised by different hull forms and more complex stern configuration due to the presence of appendages like skegs, shaft lines and brackets, which can strongly affect manoeuvrability behaviour. In this work a novel procedure to properly account for the particular geometric and stern appendage characteristics of these kind of vessels is described. A thorough analysis has been performed on a ship model equipped with 13 different stern appendage configurations and new formulae have been developed in order to describe accurately their influence on ship manoeuvring behaviour. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Recently, the port logistics market is rapidly expanding, along with the active maritime trade. To adjust to this trend and gain a competitive advantage, competition among shipping companies at home and abroad has intensified, and many efforts are being made for the improvement of customer services and cost saving. In particular, car carriers transporting more than 80% of total car import/export volume must quickly make efforts to reduce transportation costs. Much research has been conducted to improve the efficiency of maritime transportation, but studies on car carriers, which are given relatively less importance, have been lacking. The car carrier's transportation planning is similar to the vehicle routing problem, but it is much more complicated in that cars and cargo are prepared at different points in time, and cargo can be loaded not only at the departing port but also at other ports. Therefore, in an effort to solve the problem, this study has developed a meta-heuristic algorithm based on a genetic algorithm, and we have succeeded in developing a maritime transportation planning support system with the algorithm, thus making it possible to prepare various alternatives, evaluate them, and consequently support user's decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road freight transportation has increased dramatically over recent years along with its impacts such as congestion, noise, and pollution. As a result, European and US governments have started policies to promote alternatives to road transportation, such as logistic chains containing a Short Sea Shipping (SSS) link. Road is, by definition, a more flexible means of transportation than shipping, which is usually cheaper. Therefore, to move traffic to SSS chains, it is necessary to provide fast, frequent, and reliable maritime transportation. In this sense, roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) vessels are the most convenient ships to be used, since they have smaller dwell times in port and, therefore, this is a kind of traffic likely to increase dramatically. The foreseeable increase of this kind of traffic must meet with an increase in the actual capacity by means of either improvement in performance and possible enlargements of existing terminals or the construction of new terminals. In that sense, this paper proposes a simple methodology to calculate the capacity of a RoRo terminal, whether already in operation or during its design process, and relate it to some quality standards by means of quality indicators, which should lead to the definition of Levels of Service similar to those already used in roads and airports. The paper ends by applying the methodology to a real terminal in Barcelona, Spain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From yachts to ferries, car carriers to submarines, a diverse fleet of ecoboats utilize fuel cell technology, with more applications on the near horizon. In this article we look at the wide variety of fuel cell projects both above and below the waves, and at some of the concept and demonstration vessels being planned. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Ship efficiency has become an increasingly important subject for ship designers and owners. Both the predicted high cost of fuel in the future and the need to reduce emissions are driving this drive for improved efficiency. The IMO is also seeking measures to reduce the CO2 emissions from ships, and their proposed Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) aims at ensuring that future vessels will be more efficient. Two ship concepts, a large RoRo vessel and a Cruise ferry, have been developed to highlight different technologies that can be used to improve efficiency. The designs show that the power demand can be reduced significantly with existing basic naval architecture methods. Optimization of main dimensions for life cycle cost, rather than building cost alone, can deliver large savings. Also, new propulsion concepts, such as triple shaft lines or Wing thrusters, yield clear propulsion power savings. Other measures to reduce fuel consumption, such as waste heat recovery and wind power, also show large gains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a LNG-fueled coastal RO/RO for the East Coast of the US trade to meet upcoming Emission Control Area (ECA) requirements. The exhaust system for this vessel is proposed to be a wet system so there is no airborne emission. The CO2 remaining in the exhaust system is removed in the exhaust stream, and remaining exhaust components are combined with cooling water to provide a cooling effluent that meets Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements. The concept design is carried to the point of determining operating economics, and the environmental effect of operating such ships is assessed as compared to conventional truck traffic. It was found that each ship will reduce East Coast highway truck traffic by over 1900 trucks per week. Since there are no emissions from the ship, each ship will also bring environmental advantages. It appears the ship would be economically competitive with conventional truck transport: the cost for transporting a single 53' trailer via ship is roughly $996, compared to $1245 via truck. Furthermore, the proposed three vessel shipping service could potentially remove nearly 300,000 vehicles from the road annually. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]