Prediction of container ships’ speed-power relationship for various operational conditions

Abstract

In recent years, international shipping has received considerable attention in reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. Ship operators deploy technical and operational measures to improve the energy efficiency of existing ships in the short term. Monitoring the efforts towards more efficient ships is essential. The main engine power and the speed are closely dependent: reducing the speed leads to lower power requirements and fewer emissions for the ship. Nevertheless, the benefit of slow steaming depends on the relationship between speed and main engine power. This work investigates the relationship between the speed and the main engine power of container ships. Preliminary results show that speed raised to the power of between 2 to 3 can predict the main engine power as a first approximation (R2≈0.8). The work will later include the effect of weather, loading conditions, and speed ranges.