The influence of some ship parameters on manoeuvrability

Abstract

Although there are advances in safety devices for ships every year, the risks of collision or grounding are still significant. Shipping accidents can have numerous negative effects involving not only damage to the cargo or delays due to ship repair but even loss of the ship, which may result in ecological disasters, in the case of oil or chemical tankers, as well as significant risks for both humans and wildlife.

Collision and grounding are the most common accidents in ship operation. Some accidents are due to human error, but several research projects have shown that a high percentage of these accidents could have been avoided if the ship had had better manoeuvrability characteristics.

In this paper, numerical methods will be used to study the influence of some ship parameters on the manoeuvrability a model ship. This kind of analysis can help the naval architect to improve the manoeuvrability characteristics during the early stages of ship design.