Modelling and simulation of ship collisions in port and coastal waters

Abstract

Navigational safety is an important issue in maritime transportation. The most frequent type of maritime accident in the port and coastal waters is the ship collision. Although some ship collision models have been developed in the past, few have taken account of wind and sea current effects. However, wind and sea current are critical factors in ship maneuvering. Therefore, based on the previous collision model without wind and sea current effects, this study further develops a ship collision model with wind and sea current effects. Finally, a comparison of the results for the proposed collision model in this study and the ship maneuvering simulator is shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed mathematical model in this paper, followed by the conclusions and suggestions given to navigators, port managers, and governmental maritime departments to improve navigational safety in port and coastal waters.