Modeling evasive action to be implemented at the minimum distance for collision avoidance in a give-way situation

Abstract

Collision avoidance is important in ship safety, and studies usually investigate collision detection and evasive action. In a give-way situation, the evasive action implemented at the minimum distance for collision avoidance considerably influences the maneuver time of the own ship (OS) to safely move away from the target. Although the evasive action for collision avoidance is affected by various parameters, no statistical relationships or evaluations pertaining to the evasive action at the minimum distance moment have been reported. Therefore, in this study, a systematic method to model such action was developed. First, we established the conceptual basis for evasive action at the minimum distance moment, identified COLREG-compliant evasive action by performing a scenario-based ship-handling simulation, and then derived a multiple linear regression model that can determine the relative bearing and ship heading, as observed at the minimum distance moment of evasive action. Subsequently, we evaluated the evasive action determined using the model in conjunction with the OS domain. The obtained results demonstrated that the proposed method is suitable for evaluating evasive actions adopted at the minimum distance moment.