Inland Vessels Research Articles

Evaluation of car-following model for inland vessel-following behavior

Due to the unique role of inland waterway transport in reducing carbon emissions, the demand for inland vessel transportation has greatly increased recent years in China. More and more vessels in the inland waterway have gradually formed a non-free following queue, rather than the free traffic flow of the past. To provide a theoretical basis for organizing the vessel traffic under a crowded state, it is necessary to understand accurately the microscopic characteristics of inland waterway vessel traffic flow, such as vessel-following behavior. This research carried out three vessel-following experiments to obtain valuable microscopic data of vessel-following behavior in different inland restricted waterways in Yangtze Delta, China. Considering the uniformity of traffic flow, six typical car-following models were tried to verify their applicability to inland vessel-following behavior. The parameters of the car-following models were recalibrated based on the experimental data. The simulation results of different models were evaluated, and the improved General Motor (GM) model was proposed to avoid vessel collision during the simulation process in GM model. The results show that the improved GM model, Newell model, Intelligent Driver model (IDM) and Longitudinal Control model (LCM) were confirmed to be suitable to describe the vessel-following behavior in the inland restricted waterway. These models may help professionals understand deeply the inland vessel traffic characteristics.

The role of liquid hydrogen in integrated energy systems–A case study for Germany

Hydrogen (H2) is expected to be a key building block in future greenhouse gas neutral energy systems. This study investigates the role of liquid hydrogen (LH2) in a national, greenhouse gas-neutral energy supply system for Germany in 2045. The integrated energy system model suite ETHOS is extended by LH2 demand profiles in the sectors aviation, mobility, and chemical industry and means of LH2 transportation via inland vessel, rail, and truck.This case study demonstrates that the type of hydrogen demand (liquid or gaseous) can strongly affect the cost-optimal design of the future energy system. When LH2 demand is introduced to the energy system, LH2 import, transportation, and production grow in importance. This decreases the need for gaseous hydrogen (GH2) pipelines and affects the location of H2 production plants. When identifying no-regret measures, it must be considered, that the largest H2 consumers are the ones with the highest readiness to use LH2.

Air Pollution by Inland Waterways Transportation in India

Economy of any country depends on the existence of an efficient transport sector. There exists different modes of transportation such as railways, roadways, inland waterways, coastal shipping and airways. Sea freight is the best choice for international freight shipping because ships are used for transporting 80% of the world’s goods by volume. But at the same time, it becomes a great threat to human and ecosystem in the form of carbon emissions. Now-a-days, inland waterways are preferred over roadways and railways for domestic shipping in all the countries. India invests more in the development of inland waterways to have a cost effective cargo shipping. As the number of inland vessels increases, it may lead to the severe impact on environment due to more carbon emissions. Unless steps to reduce carbon emissions from vessels are adopted, it could increase by as much as 20% to 120% by 2050. This study reviews the inland waterways transportation of India and investigates the air pollution from inland vessels.

Inland Vessel Travel Time Prediction via a Context-Aware Deep Learning Model

Accurate vessel travel time estimation is crucial for optimizing port operations and ensuring port safety. Existing vessel travel time prediction models primarily rely on path-finding algorithms and corresponding distance/speed relationships to calculate travel time. However, these models overlook the complex nature of vessel travel time, which is influenced by multiple traffic-related factors such as collision avoidance, shortest path selection, and vessel personnel performance. The lack of consideration for these specific aspects limits the accuracy and applicability of current models. We propose a novel context-aware deep learning approach for inland vessel travel time prediction. Firstly, we introduce a complex network that captures vessel–vessel interaction contexts, providing valuable traffic environment information as an input for the deep learning model. Additionally, we employ a convolutional neural network to extract spatial trajectory information, which is then integrated with interaction contexts and indirect context information. In the vessel travel time prediction procedure, we utilize a long short-term memory network to capture the temporal dependence within consecutive channel sections’ fused multiple context feature sets. Extensive experiments incorporating historical data from the Wuhan section of the Yangtze River in China demonstrate the superiority of our proposed model over classical models in predicting vessel travel time. Importantly, our model accounts for the specific traffic contexts that had previously been overlooked, leading to improved accuracy and applicability in inland vessel travel time prediction.

From RTK to PPP-RTK: towards real-time kinematic precise point positioning to support autonomous driving of inland waterway vessels

PPP-RTK is Precise Point Positioning (PPP) using corrections from a ground reference network, which enables single-receiver users with integer ambiguity resolution thereby improving its performance. However, most of the PPP-RTK studies are investigated and evaluated in a static situation or a post-processing mode because of the complexity of implementation in real-time practical applications. Moreover, although PPP-RTK achieves a faster convergence than PPP, it typically needs 30 s or even longer to derive high-accuracy results. We have implemented a real-time PPP-RTK approach based on undifferenced observations and State-Space Representation corrections with a fast convergence of less than 30 s to support autonomous driving of inland waterway vessels. The PPP-RTK performances and their feasibility to support autonomous driving have been evaluated and validated in a real-time inland waterway navigation. It proves the PPP-RTK approach can realize a precise positioning of less than 10 cm in horizontal with a rapid convergence. The convergence time is within 10 s after a normal bridge passing and less than 30 s after a complicated bridge passing. Moreover, the PPP-RTK approach can be extended to outside of the GNSS station network. Even if the location is 100 km away from the border of the GNSS station network, the PPP-RTK convergence time after a bridge passing is also normally less than 30 s. We have realized the first automated entry into a waterway lock for a vessel supported by PPP-RTK and taken the first step toward autonomous driving of inland vessels based on PPP-RTK.

Lessons learned from accidents on some major European inland waterways

The collection of data on accidents in inland navigation is not mandatory in many European countries. The lack of a harmonized methodology or a centralized database of information on accidents makes it difficult to have a comprehensive picture of safety on European inland waterways. The problem becomes particularly evident in light of significant navigational challenges such as the introduction of autonomous shipping. To provide a better understanding of safety in inland navigation, the paper presents the results of an analysis of data on some 700 accidents which took place on the inland waterways in Austria and Serbia, over a 15-year period (2001/2002–2017). The analysis identifies the safety “hot spots” and the most important safety issues on examined waterways. Contrary to the widely-accepted belief, the results do not confirm that most of the accidents could be attributed to human failures and show that the removal of human operators from inland vessels could only have a limited positive impact on safety unless other aspects (primarily related to maintenance of the fleet and the waterway) are considered. Consequently, the paper outlines the fundamental conditions in which it would be possible to reduce the human presence or even remove the crew from inland ships.

Developments and Applications of Green and Intelligent Inland Vessels in China

To provide a reference for practical applications of green and intelligent inland vessels, this paper summarizes the development status and five key technologies of green intelligent inland vessels in China. Green and intelligent inland vessels will be used for demonstration and application verification. The application of key technologies in green, intelligent, and formation navigation is expounded. Finally, five tasks for developing the “New Generation of Waterborne Transportation” systems are proposed.

Granična čvrstoća rečne barže

Due to the sudden nature of hull girder collapse caused by extreme loadings, the ultimate strength of ships, i.e., ultimate capacity, has to be evaluated. Ultimate strength analysis procedures have already been provided within the rules of the classification societies for sea-going ships. However, rules for inland vessels are not fully addressing the issue. In addition, literature data on the ultimate strength of inland vessels are almost negligible, which is alarming, considering the frequency of grounding and overloading events in inland navigation. Moreover, inland vessels' structural elements are prone to buckling due to their slender plates. In order to evaluate ultimate strength, an inland waterway (IW) barge is chosen for progressive collapse analysis (PCA) employment. PCA has demonstrated that the buckling collapse of structural elements vastly governs a vessel's ultimate capacity. Results show the extent of the safety zone between the actual loss of the ultimate capacity and the linear-elastic behavior of the structure.

Two-Level Optimization to Reduce Waiting Time at Locks in Inland Waterway Transportation

Inland vessels often have to cross numerous locks before reaching their final destination, which leads to a significant delay and sometimes represents as much as half of the total travel time. The delay affects shipment costs and can affect other parts of the transport chain, adversely impacting this transportation mode’s growth. Therefore, this work presents a two-level solution to ensure a shorter waiting time at locks and improve inland waterway transport. On the one hand, the first level focuses on making infrastructural modifications by proposing an efficient Lock Automation Decision Making (Lock-ADM) method. The problem modeling consists of using a three-stage algorithm. Firstly, we calculate the optimal number of locks while minimizing the investment costs using the exact solver, CPLEX. Secondly, we measure the importance of locks in the network, and finally, we select the best locks to automate using the Genetic Algorithm (GA) metaheuristic. Based on real data, we achieved an average reduction of 33.7% in overall lock waiting time at a low cost. On the other hand, the second level proposes a Dynamic Lock Scheduling (Lock-DS) to efficiently manage vessels scheduling at locks by minimizing their waiting time and optimizing their speed. We achieve an average reduction of 69.9% in vessel waiting time and a reduction of 48.03% in total fuel consumption compared to existing scheduling methods. Automating the most important locks with Lock-ADM and managing their crossing with Lock-DS ensure shorter vessels’ waiting time and represent a significant first step towards the automation of inland navigation.

Fast and Precise Generic Model for Position-Based Trajectory Prediction of Inland Waterway Vessels

Vessel motion simulation as well as model-based accurate trajectory prediction of vessels require accurate models with respect to related dynamic properties. The ability to predict vessel’s trajectory behaviors will become relevant in the case of future autonomous navigation of vessels to predict the behavior of others. The definition of models or parameters can be realized via first principles or by using experimental modeling methods leading to a time invariant or variant model. Existing hydrodynamical modeling approaches are based on mathematical approaches, which use parameters like mass, hydrodynamic forces, wind velocity, depth under the keel, loading parameters, etc. So, determining a dynamic vessel’s model is a complex task, since the model is vessel-specific. For collision avoidance of autonomous or assisted vessels, the trajectory prediction of encountering other vessels is especially required. It is not possible to use complex hydrodynamical models of encountering vessels online due to missing required information/measurements. Even existing deep learning approaches provide better predictions, but are still insufficient for collision avoidance in the case of strong dynamical changes, since the considered input sequences are long. Due to long input sequences, the model does not adapt to strong dynamical changes. In this work, a simple parameter-based approach is developed to predict the intended behavior using the last seconds of the measured position variables. The idea is to globally identify the model parameters of the vessel, which remains constant for the situation, and additionally two parameters for local adaptation, which adapt at every updated input sequence. Typically parameters like rudder angle, wind velocities, and water current affect the behavior of vessels. The introduced approach works with a sliding window approach for which, after identification of the global system, local values are identified based on the last 80 measurements of the vessels. A trajectory prediction (assuming no additional rudder-based maneuvering) is realized for the prediction horizon of 180 s. To confirm the robustness of the new approach, real AIS/GPS-based measurements from a German research inland vessel for different scenarios and sailing conditions including ‘loaded’ and ‘empty’ sailing cases are used. Furthermore, additional results are shown for position data information of different sample rates.

Novel Model-Based Decision Support System for Reliable Human Machine Systems in Complex Situations

Within human-machine systems the monitoring of human behavior contributes to the safety of the overall system. Detecting critical situations or observing human errors will allow to take over the guidance of systems by automation or to warn to affect the interaction operator/human.In the project FernBin beside others the supervision of the captain’s actions in inland shipping is addressed. The focus is to detect human errors and also non- optimal behaviors. Additionally a reliability-based analysis of the captain’s actions will also enable a safer driving behavior and the reduction of accidents and dangerous situations due to suitable warning and interaction strategies of the supervision system.In this contribution a Situation-Operator-Modeling (SOM) approach is used to describe the captain-vessel-interaction and to illustrate the captain’s behavior as a graph-based-model. As example a ‘Turn-around’ maneuver is considered. A SOM-based action space consisting of possible captain’s behaviors leading to a meaningful desired final situation is developed and applied to a ‘Turn-around’ maneuver. Using this approach a manifold of sequences can be generated describing the human interaction options.Subsequently and online a modified CREAM approach (cognitive reliability and error analysis method) is used allowing the calculation of the human reliability performance score (HPRS), resulting to static reliability measures. The HPRS can be also assigned directly to the SOM-action space. In difference to previous developments this allows beside the deterministic supervision (SOM) also the individualized definition of the safest/most reliable action sequence as well as the opposite. Therefore an event-discretized behavior model situated supervision performance of the captain’s driving behavior with human reliability score numbers is established for the first time. As example the behavior of remotely operating captains of inland vessels is used as experimental example.

Maneuvring Behavior of Push Convoys in Different Barge Configurations

_ Ship maneuvring simulators are a useful tool for the design of inland waterways and for training of skippers. The realism of the maneuvring prediction is a key success factor. In this paper, a 6 DOF (degrees of freedom) maneuvring model is presented which is able to predict the maneuvring behavior of push convoys in different, rigidly connected configurations (number of barges, draft of the barges, and position of the pusher) and for different water depths. The coefficients of this maneuvring model have been determined based on captive model tests and the realism is exemplified with a number of fast time simulation runs, including the turning on the spot of a convoy by means of uncoupled control of rudders and propellers. Final validations were performed during real-time simulation runs with experienced skippers. Introduction Knowledge on the maneuvring prediction of inland vessels is a key factor to determine the navigability of the waterways, especially when their water depth is limited (shallow water). The quality and accuracy of mathematical models require a continuous improvement. Push convoys operating in shallow water are intensively used performing long trips or elaborated maneuvers such as turning from a river into a harbor, turning on the spot, and astern sailing. An appropriate modeling of their maneuvring capacity requires a mathematical model able to operate in four quadrants (ahead or astern motion, combined with ahead or astern propulsion). In literature, papers which deal with the creation of reliable mathematical models for this type of inland vessels and their applications are rather scarce.

Applicability of Current Statutory Rules for Stability Requirements of Bangladesh Inland Passenger Vessels

_ Applicability of current Bangladesh inland vessels stability rule has been investigated for the local passenger vessels. Bangladesh inland vessel’s stability rule is exactly the same as international stability code (2008), despite of the different environmental load in navigational routes. The restricted waterways limit the dimension of the vessels. It has been found that domestic passenger vessels have changed their dimensions considerably from the year 1974 to 2009. But analysis shows, still most of the domestic passenger vessels exceed the dimensional ratio range that is specified in both the righting lever-based criteria and weather criterion of international code. The part of the weather criterion, specifically estimation method for the angle of roll due to wind and wave action has been studied in details. Different nationals have adopted values of governing parameters for extended range of vessel dimensions, which can also successfully cover all the Bangladesh domestic passenger vessels. As per the code 2008, for ships with values outside of the addressed range, the angle of roll may be determined with model experiments of a subject ship as alternative weather criterion. Bangladesh is still lacking both in facility and infrastructure for carrying model tests. This study shows that computer simulation can be used in exchange of experimental setup where the simulation result can be validated by Parameter Identification Technique, which is described as an alternative approach in the interim guideline of International Maritime Organization (IMO). Introduction Passenger vessel accident is a persistent phenomenon in Bangladesh inland waterways. Thousands of people have passed away due to these catastrophic incidents. The major two modes of failure that are responsible for accidents in waterways are identified as structural failure and stability failure (Islam et al. 2015a). Structural failure like collision also leads to stability failure (Damage Stability). Iqbal et al. (2008a, 2008b) analyzed the Bangladesh inland passenger vessels accident data of 25 years and found that in 49% cases, the failure was due to lose of intact stability. Raiyan et al. (2017) have done event tree analysis of marine accidents in Bangladesh taking initial condition as overloading. Literature study (Awal 2006; Awal et al. 2007; Awal et al. 2014; Islam et al. 2015b; Rahman 2017) shows that researchers have proposed many general recommendations from different point of view to prevent the passenger vessel accidents. But still now, no attempt has been made to analyze the currently applicable statutory rules for ensuring the safety in inland waterways, which is mainly Bangladesh Inland Vessels Stability Rule including Weather Criterion (Zulfikar 2005). Stability rules of inland vessels are to be governed by standard localized condition of the subjected parameters. The socioeconomic condition, local environment, as well as infrastructural development like availability of model test facilities need to be considered for smooth and proper application of stability rules which then can only ensure the safety of local vessels. This implies that the individual efforts of concern country in research and analysis are of great importance for the development of practicable stability rules of inland vessels.

Approach of using a system of evaluation indicators in determining the efficiency of ships in the Danube shipping

In modern conditions, there is an active interest in continuing research to reduce harmful emissions of marine engine exhaust gases into the atmosphere and prepare ships for the use of technologies with zero level of these emissions. It is known that the European Green Deal concept announced by the European Union is aimed not only at the modernization of the inland vessels, and coordinated qualitative change in its composition, but within this framework also at the large-scale implementation of the energy transition as the most effective way to achieve zero emissions into the atmosphere. At the same time, environmental aspects and issues of energy efficiency are considered as a complex task of transition to energy efficient eco-navigation. To date, for the European inland navigation participants, the stages of reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere are clearly defined and regulated with established numerical standard (reference) values for each of the components (CO, HC, NOx, PM). As for energy efficiency, discussions are still ongoing at the international level about the advisability of introducing criteria according to the principle established by the International Maritime Organization for ships based on the specific mass of harmful emissions (in terms of CO2) per unit of transport work. At the same time, there is an understanding of the specifics of navigation conditions and technologies for transporting goods, which makes us return to comparing energy efficiency and economy indicators. The team of authors made an attempt to find and offer the most comprehensive approach to assessing the energy efficiency and economy of the inland navigation vessels operation, in particular for Danube vessels, with the maximum possible consideration of the features of their operation. An integrated approach to the use of estimated indicators of the efficiency of the existing pushers with heavy convoys allows to achieve an increase in the energy efficiency of the operation of the existing fleet, as well as lead to an improvement in environmental indicators.

An analysis of stability requirements for large inland passenger ships

The regulatory approach to stability assessment of seagoing ships has significantly evolved during the last two decades, which resulted in the introduction of the probabilistic damage stability regulations and development of the Second Generation Intact Stability Criteria by the International Maritime Organization. The ship stability regulations for inland vessels, however, have not followed a similar path. This paper investigates the present intact and damage stability requirements intended for large inland passenger ships (LIPS), offers a critical analysis of the present stability regulations, highlights the need for a global harmonization of regulations, and probes into the hierarchy of the stability requirements for LIPS. The investigation is performed on two ships which belong to the classes of the largest inland passenger ships presently used for river cruises in Europe. It was found that damage stability generally dominates the stability requirements of LIPS, and that the stability assessment may substantially depend on the choice of Flag, even if the ships are intended for the same inland waterway. Significant discrepancies in stability assessments performed according to different regulations bring into focus the question of reliability of the present regulatory framework for stability of LIPS.

Maneuvering modeling of a twin-propeller twin-rudder inland container vessel based on integrated CFD and empirical methods

The mathematical maneuvering model of a ship permits access to evaluate ship maneuverability performance and constitutes the core in the digital twin of a real ship, and it is playing an increasingly essential role in the contemporary era of developing intelligent ships. This paper proposed an integrated CFD and empirical maneuvering model for twin-propeller twin-rudder (TPTR) inland vessels, and the validity of the model is confirmed by comparing it with free-running model test data of a 64TEU TPTR inland container. The propeller–rudder system of the model ship is investigated under different advance coefficients and rudder angles by CFD methods, and obtained results are regressed to a polynomial-based rudder force model. The applicability of numerical methods in CFD simulations and the pattern for the rudder force model are proved first. After that, combining the rudder force model with empirical formulas, the maneuvering modeling of the TPTR inland vessel is implemented and validated.

Research on Extraction Method of Multiple Narrow Channel Vessel Trajectory Feature in Yangtze River Based on VITS Data

Vessel big data play a significant role in understanding vessel behaviors and thus facilitating the prosperity of waterway transportation. However, relevant research regarding vessel trajectory recognition in a broad range of narrow channels still lacks, especially using VITS data. The major objective of this paper is to conduct vessel trajectory analysis based on the novel VITS data and examine its availability in inland waterway vessel transportation. An alternate aim is to develop a more comprehensive framework to extract the vessel trajectory of multiple narrow waterways. This paper utilized vessel trajectory information of multiple narrow channels belonging to Yangtze River captured by VITS. Four compression algorithms were conducted. Additionally, the performances of three clustering approaches were evaluated. Speed distribution analysis was also implemented. The results indicated that slide window (SW) algorithm outperforms its other counterparts. Relative to DBSCAN, K-means and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA) tend to be more capable of balanced classification. This paper is the first to utilize VITS data in vessel trajectory feature extraction and can potentially provide useful insight for vessel trajectory extraction in multiple narrow channels.

Evaluating an Inland Waterway Cargo Vessel’s Energy Efficiency Indices

Abstract Although the International Maritime Organization (IMO) introduced the energy efficiency requirements for ships more than a decade ago, to date, inland navigation has not been affected by corresponding regulations at all. Therefore, inland waterway vessels are left with no mandatory requirements that could push their technology into more energy efficient design. Fortunately, there are certain pioneering attempts to define energy efficiency criteria for inland vessels. This paper tries to gather and provide a review of such methods. Moreover, a typical Danube cargo inland vessel’s data are used to evaluate their current energy efficiency levels with respect to provisional criteria. Consequently, two methods are found and used here. They are both based on IMO’s energy efficiency concept but modified for the inland waterway vessels. The methods delivered a significant difference in applicability and were difficult to compare. Moreover, shallow and deep-water effects are explored in the same regard but provided unsound conclusions. The final results displayed discrepancies in energy efficiency levels for the same vessels and so the methodology should be improved and harmonised, if it is to be introduced as mandatory for inland waterway vessels. The analysis provided a glimpse into the current condition of the traditional design of the Danube inland fleet, with respect to the emerging energy efficiency policies.

VeLABi – Research and control center for autonomous inland vessels

AbstractThis paper describes the conception and implementation of the research and control center VeLABi for the development of automation functions up to a fully autonomous inland vessel. A high-tech simulator was designed and built as the central component of VeLABi. It allows simulative developments and demonstrations of automation functions. Furthermore, ongoing research activities aim at transforming the simulator into a remote operators’ stand to remotely control inland vessels and, in case of an autonomous vessel, to provide corresponding monitoring and emergency intervention functions.

Towards semi-autonomous operation of an over-actuated river ferry

Abstract The automation of ships will in the long run enable new mobility concepts and profitable business models both for offshore and inland vessels. However, automation in shipping can already today offer significant benefits for the environment as well as for the safety of people, infrastructure and the vessel itself. To gain these advantages, sophisticated sensors, reliable propulsion systems and intelligent algorithms are required. In this context, the project AKOON is investigating the potential of the automation of a river ferry. The ferry under investigation operates on the Rhine near Mainz in Germany and is being converted to a fully automated vessel as part of the research project. This article gives an overview of the guidance, navigation and control (GNC) modules of the automation with focus on the trajectory planning and trajectory tracking modules. The trajectory planning uses hybrid-state A* to find safe and fuel-efficient routes. The subsequent trajectory tracking is achieved by a two-level approach that uses a state-space controller and an optimization-based thrust allocation to efficiently operate the over-actuated propulsion system consisting of four cycloidal propellers. Results from a high-fidelity vessel simulator based on state-of-the-art hydrodynamic simulations show that the presented approach allows the generation of collision-free reference trajectories, that can be tracked safely even in cases of model mismatches and disturbances.