Determination of Minimum Distance to Obstacle Avoidance in the Singapore Strait

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In the maritime simulation models of obstacle avoidance, the parameter of critical contact closest point of approach (CCPA) is defined as the minimum safe distance to avoid an obstacle contact. Although the parameter of CCPA plays a decisive role on the maneuvering of the ship for obstacle avoidance, it is generally set with an uncalibrated input value in many obstacle avoidance simulation models. This study focuses on the parameter calibration of the critical CCPA by utilizing the automatic identification system (AIS) data in the Singapore Strait and maneuver simulation experiments. First, an effective mathematical method is proposed to identify ship obstacle avoidance from the big AIS data. Together with several obstacles and the AIS data in the Singapore Strait, the average critical CCPA values are identified for different ship classes. Second, a series of maneuver simulation experiments on Dalian Maritime University navigational simulators are conducted by professional captains. Based on the experimental data, the simulation-based critical CCPA values are derived. Finally, these calibrated CCPA values from the above two methods are compared and analysed. The comparison result implies that these critical CCPA values, derived from AIS data and maneuver simulators, are matched and confirm the rationality of one another. It also reveals that the average critical CCPA value for each ship class has an increasing trend with the increased ship length.