Abstract
Structures exposed to cyclic wave loading often develop fatigue cracks, demanding maintenance efforts. Ships are designed to withstand the same wave environment independently of their operations. This paper investigates the operational patterns of five different groups of vessels, focusing on the structural fatigue effects. The investigation combines almost 100 million hours of worldwide Automatic Identification System (AIS) data, environmental hindcast data, and simplified structural models. Results show that vessel operators change behavior in rough waves (typically from Beaufort scale 6 for smaller vessels), though speed and heading changes depend on vessel size and type. These changes result in more fatigue damage accumulation than calculations using the common assumption of zero speed and uniform heading probabilities. Consistent with previous studies limited to North Atlantic traffic, worldwide, ship operators make choices that mitigate ships' encountered waves.
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