Characteristics of Turning Circle and Zig-Zag Manoeuvres of An Indonesian Ferry Ship In Shallow Water

Abstract

Ship manoeuvring performance is very important in navigation safety, especially when ships operate in shallow water. This paper describes the characteristics of turning circle and zig-zag manoeuvres of Indonesian ferry ships in shallow water. A time-domain simulation program was developed for this purpose. Several parameters such as ship speed and water depth levels have been considered in the simulation. The results shows a significant difference in the ship’s trajectory and speed when the ship manoeuvring in different water depths. The ship manoeuvre trajectory diameter for shallow water (h/T=1.3) is greater than in deep water (h/T=4.0). Meanwhile, the speed of the ship during turns increases with the decreasing depth of the water (h). Likewise, the 20/20° zig-zag manoeuvre of the ship shows that the heading angle in shallow waters has a smaller overshoot angle when compared to the ship manoeuvres in the deep waters.