Ro-Ro Passenger Ship Research Articles

A Passenger Ship Emergency Evacuation Line Efficiency Evaluation Operator Considering Safety Capacity and its Application

Introduction: Aiming at evaluating the efficiency of passenger ship emergency evacuation routes, this study proposes an evaluation operator for passenger ship emergency evacuation routes, and then conducts simulation research on the passenger ship evacuation process. Method: The main innovations of this study are as follows. Firstly, this study proposes an evaluation operator for passenger ship emergency evacuation lines based on consideration of the passage capacity, ship heeling effect, traffic flow obstruction, personnel evacuation mood, accident location, and other factors. Secondly, this study discretizes the emergency evacuation path of passenger ships into a three-dimensional topological network structure and uses simulation data to calculate the traffic capacity between nodes. By comparing the calculated value with the simulated value, a risk assessment method for emergency evacuation is given. Thirdly, this study takes the three-story ro-ro passenger ship in the European "SAFEGUARD" project as an example and gives three passenger ship evacuation simulation processes under different passenger flow densities. Result: The results of the calculation example show that the risk-prone areas are mainly concentrated in the passenger ship stairs, and the risk value increases with the passenger flow. Conclusion: The calculation results verify the effectiveness of the emergency evacuation line efficiency evaluation operator proposed in this study.

Real-time prediction of metacentric height of ro-ro passenger ships in Qiongzhou strait based on improved RBF neural network

Addressing the complexities and real-time challenges in calculating ship metacentric height (GM), this study proposes an improved method using an optimized radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) for real-time GM prediction. Bayesian optimization is introduced to fine-tune the hyperparameters of the RBFNN, aiming to enhance the model's generalization performance. The study focuses on the Qiongzhou Strait Ro-ro passenger ship ‘Zijing No.11’ and selects three GM-related factors as neural network inputs using grey correlation analysis. The GM calculated by the empirical formula serves as the expected value, which is compared with predictions from various algorithms. Simulation results demonstrate that the improved RBFNN achieves significantly lower prediction errors compared to the unoptimized version. Furthermore, compared to other machine learning models and artificial neural networks, the proposed model exhibits superior performance in predicting ship initial stability height. Consequently, this model offers a practical tool for accurate and real-time GM prediction, enhancing intelligent stowage and operational efficiency in shipping.

Modernisation of Domestic Ro-Ro Passenger Ships Operating in the Philippines

This paper forms part of a wider study in the form of a Formal Safety Assessment of the domestic passenger ships operating in the Philippines, undertaken on behalf of the Philippines Government, and financed by the World Bank and the International Maritime Organisation. The paper focuses on design deficiencies of the domestic RoPax ships, primarily in damage stability. The process of ship selection for representation of the wider fleet risk assessment is explained, leading to one medium RoPax and one large RoPax, typical of some 500 of these ships, serving the open sea domestic trade in the Philippines. To this end, the selected designs have been subjected to a systematic process of damage stability and flooding risk analysis in order to identify design vulnerabilities, leading to risk estimation in the form of Potential Loss of Life. A number of risk control options have then been identified, enabling a thorough risk assessment and identification of cost effective RCOs, as well as impact assessment, using IMO risk acceptance criteria as basis. Despite the poor state of the domestic Ro-Ro passenger vessels operating in the Philippines, many of these aged, badly retrofitted, poorly maintained, and operated, it has been possible to identify cost-effective design solutions to raise the damage stability (and safety) standard of these ships to international standards of newly designed ships; it seems an unprecedented achievement, but evidently true. This presents the Philippine Government and the owners of these vessels with a unique opportunity to upgrade their domestic fleet of RoPax vessels and showcase these against the best in the world. Because of the similarity in the approach, the selection of risk control options and the overall analysis adopted, only one of the typical RoPax vessels selected is presented in this paper.

Propeller Optimization in Marine Power Systems: Exploring Its Contribution and Correlation with Renewable Energy Solutions

The goal of increasing fuel efficiency and decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions has increased interest in the application of renewable energy sources and the usage of new technologies in the maritime industry. In order to implement the most suitable source, factors such as voyage duration, storage availability, and the condition of existing vessels as well as those that are still under construction should be taken into account. Propeller optimization is proposed as a long-term solution. This paper investigates the environmental aspects of propeller optimization, focusing on its potential to reduce ship vibrations fuel consumption, and, therefore, the ship’s carbon footprint. The case study presents propeller optimization on a Ro-Ro passenger ship. The data collected during sea trials before and after propeller optimization will be compared. Expected fuel oil consumption will be correlated to the CO2 emission reduction. Besides propeller optimization, the paper performs a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis comparing it with solar and wind power applications on ships.

Comparison and Evaluation of Learning Capabilities of Deep Learning Methods for Predicting Ship Motions

The development of intelligent ship control systems in real-world conditions relies heavily on the accurate identification and prediction of ship seakeeping and maneuvering trajectories. In this study, we comprehensively evaluate a selection of deep learning methods to assess their learning capabilities in terms of idealizing ship motion behavior in realistic operational environments. To recover real conditions, we utilize historical Automatic Identification System (AIS) data and a time domain 6 Degree of Freedom (6- DoF) grounding dynamics model to generate ship motion sequences for a Ro-Ro passenger ship operating in the Gulf of Finland. Via a rigorous evaluation process, we validate the performance of these methods using extensive data streams. The analysis includes the identification and estimation of uncertainties between two ports. The paper demonstrates the proficiency of the selected deep learning methods in capturing ship maneuvering features, their potential use in the design of ship control and intelligent decision support systems.

Safety Management on Ro-Ro Passenger Ships

Safety Management on Ro-Ro Passenger Ships

Multi-Zone Infection Risk Assessment Model of Airborne Virus Transmission on a Cruise Ship Using CONTAM

Since the onset of the pandemic, the cruise industry has faced substantial challenges, experiencing an 81% year-on-year decline in 2020. Notably, China’s cruise industry has remained shuttered for nearly two years. The conventional epidemiological investigations relying on human memory have proven inadequate in regard to swiftly and reliably identifying high-risk populations, thus leading to excessive pandemic prevention or other inappropriate measures. Furthermore, current research endeavors have not adequately addressed the critical issues of isolation location selection and the estimation of isolation scale within multi-zone indoor environments. Therefore, how to control the epidemic with minimal impact on the public has become an urgent problem. To solve the problems mentioned above, a multi-zone infection risk assessment model of airborne virus transmission was proposed to rapidly qualify the risk of infection, identify the high-risk population, and provide guidance. The model can be divided into two parts, including a multi-zone airflow model and a risk assessment model based on the Wells–Riley model. A large in-service ro-ro passenger ship already in service was used for the application of the proposed method. The results show that the number of isolated rooms shall be at least 5% of the occupancy and the isolation location can be chosen through the multi-zone infection risk assessment model. This paper provides insights into risk assessment to mitigate the spread of epidemics on a large cruise ship, and the method can be easily applied to all kinds of multi-zone indoor environments.

Stability Control on Ro-Ro Passenger Ships as the Main Factor of Ship’s Safety

On Ro-Ro passenger ship the wide spectrum of captain’s responsibilities should be taken into consideration. One of the important responsibilities is the ship’s stability examination. The other measures as the ship’s condition, wind on ship with large windage area, rolling characteristics, severe seas etc., are important for ensuring the safe operating of ship, to minimize the risk to the ship, to the personnel and passengers on board, and to the environment. The international convention for the Safety of Life At Sea – (SOLAS 90) make into fact the continual development of safety standards in the 111 years since the sinking of the Titanic. Important enhancement stability, operational requirements and damage stability requirements were made as a consequence of several disasters at sea: “Torrey Canyon” in 1967, “Herald of Free Enterprise” in 1987 (183 dead), “Exon Valdez” in 1989, “Braer” in 1993, “Estonia” in 1994 (892 dead). In particular the dramatic loss of the Ro-Ro/Passenger vessels M/F “Herald of Free Enterprise” in 1987, and M/F “Estonia” in 1994, respectively, has resulted in the international regulation requiring enhanced damage stability requirements for this type of vessels, and in more stringent damage stability criteria adopted on a regional basis by Northern European countries (Stockholm Agreement, 1977).

A Hybrid Approach for Quantitative Analysis of Fire Hazards in Enclosed Vehicle Spaces on Ro-ro Passenger Ships

This study probes the probabilistic features of major fire hazards in enclosed spaces to establish their importance to the occurrence of fires onboard Ro-ro passenger ships and, in turn, to raise effective operational countermeasures. Distinct from the previous studies, the present research employs Bayesian Network (BN) analysis to determine the probabilities of fire hazards more effectively. The results of the first 10 important basic events obtained by the BN model are divided into five groups (Vehicle electrical fires, Reefer vehicle fires, Vehicle-carried cargo fires, Potential causal factors of fire for LIB vehicles, and Vehicle fires originating from human factors), Which prompts the authors to propose preventive measures for mitigating the possibility of fire occurrence on this type of electric vehicle. It is hoped that these measures can be essential justifications for establishing relevant rules regarding carrying LIB vehicles in enclosed spaces on an international level.

Energy Consumption Optimization of Inland Sea Ships Based on Operation Data and Ensemble Learning

Global warming, environmental pollution, and the soaring cost of energy consumption for ships have drawn the attention of the International Maritime Organization and the shipping industry. By reducing the energy consumption of ships, the greenhouse gas emissions and operating costs of ships can be effectively reduced simultaneously. However, current research on the ship energy consumption optimization based on operating mode is mainly focused on route and speed optimization and less on trim optimization, but ship trim is also an important factor affecting energy consumption. Therefore, this study proposed a ship trim optimization method based on operational data and ensemble learning to achieve energy savings and emission reductions for inland sea ships. First, data processing and feature selection of operational data from an inland ro-ro passenger ship were undertaken. Second, the energy consumption prediction models were established based on ensemble learning. Finally, the trim optimization model was developed by combining the energy consumption model with the best prediction performance and enumeration method. Experimental results show that compared with linear regression, neural networks, and support vector machines, ensemble learning methods have better prediction performance in energy consumption modeling, and the extra tree (ET) model has the best prediction performance. With the trim optimization, the energy consumption and carbon emissions of a ro-ro passenger ship can be reduced by 1.4641%, which is conducive to the green and low-carbon navigation of ships.

The Influence of Time Value, Price Perception, and Service Quality on The Intention to Repurchase Tickets on Passenger Roro Ships

Repurchase intention in the many transportation options in Indonesia is interesting to study. This study aims to determine the factors that will influence consumers to buy back tickets from shipping companies, namely passenger Roro Ships. This research is a research using a quantitative approach by distributing surveys to passengers on Roro Ships. The sampling technique used is purposive sampling. The analysis technique used is the Partial Least Square technique, using SmartPLS as a tool to process data. The results of the research test show that the time value coefficient and service quality do not affect the repurchase intention of the Roro Passenger Ship passengers, but the price perception will greatly affect the repurchase intention of the Roro Passenger ship passengers. Simultaneously the variables of time value, price perception and service quality greatly affect customer repurchase intention.

Evacuation simulation of an Ro-Ro passenger ship considering the effects of inclination and crew’s guidance

The emergency scenarios of passenger ships are reproduced unrealistically by evacuation drills due to cost and safety limitations, and model simulation is an effective alternative method. To study the evacuation efficiency of an inclined ship, a deck of a Ro-Ro ship with 1065 passengers was modeled on a simulation platform developed based on a social force model (SFM). A series of inclined scenarios were produced by adding the walking speed attenuation factor to the individual parameters. Furthermore, the influence of crew’s guidance was considered in this model, and the effects on evacuation were also analyzed for the entire deck. The simulation results show that the larger the inclination angle is, the more evacuation time that is needed. When the largest inclination angle was 20°, the evacuation time increased by 32.6%. In addition, the participation of crew’s guidance in all of these scenarios significantly accelerated the evacuation efficiency, and this benefit was achieved by the evaluation of the exit flow and congestion level by crew. However, organizing orderly evacuations as soon as possible when the inclination angle is less than 15° and making maximum efforts to ensure evacuation success are still recommended. The findings provide useful insights into a large group of Ro-Ro passenger vessels under inclined emergency evacuation.

Fire-safe Distance Between Ro-Ro Space Openings and Life-saving Appliances

As part of the FIRESAFE II project commissioned by the European Maritime Safety Agency a study was performed to determine a safe distance between side openings and Life-Saving Appliances (LSA) in ro-ro spaces to keep them available and usable for evacuation. The study utilised analytical calculations and CFD simulations. Two exclusion zones, where LSA should not be placed, were defined. The first zone relates to LSA within an embarkation station and includes the full vertical side of the ship, 6 metres forward and aft the opening. The second zone, without presence of passengers, consisted of the exclusion zone extending 6 metres around the opening. The results presented in the paper have been implemented in the International Maritime Organization interim guidelines for minimising the incidence and consequence of fires in ro-ro spaces and special category spaces of new and existing ro-ro passenger ships.

Ultimate Strength Analysis of Roro Passenger Ship under Combined Global and Local Load Using Nonlinear Finite Element Method

Since roro passenger ships have specific characteristics in handling cargo with the roll-on-roll-off loading and unloading system that must be equipped with a ramp door. Therefore, it is important to conduct the ultimate strength analysis by considering local loads and global loads to ensure the level of safety and reliability of the ship structure. The aim of this research is focused on the investigation of the structural response and the ultimate strength of the roro passenger ship using the non-linear finite element method. The dynamic explicit method is conducted to estimate the large displacement of the deformed structures such as the hull girders, deck girders and plates. In the structural response analysis, the results shows that maximum stress was occurred on the deck girders due to the sagging bending moment load. In the ultimate strength analysis, it is identified that hydrostatic load have reduced the ultimate strength about 33 %. Otherwise, the ultimate strength is increased about 1 %, in the sagging condition.
 HIGHLIGHTS
 
 The nonlinear behavior of the roro passenger ship ultimate strength due to the combined global and local load is presented
 On the hogging condition, the addition of local load (hydrostatic pressure) reduce the roro ship ultimate strength about 33 % compare to the pure global ultimate bending load
 On the sagging condition, the hydrostatic pressure have slightly increased the ultimate strength around 1 %
 
 GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

Life-cycle assessment and life-cycle cost assessment of power batteries for all-electric vessels for short-sea navigation

Environmental regulations are gradually striving to decarbonize short-sea navigation fostering the replacement of the conventional power systems with alternative ones. The electrification of ships has been proposed in the literature as a pathway to zero-emission shipping. Among various alternatives, batteries could ensure full conformity with the tightening emission restrictions. However, appropriate batteries for short-sea navigation need to be investigated, since each battery technology has its own environmental impacts and characteristics such as energy density, number of battery cycles, cost, fast charging ability and safety. The aim of this research is to compare the conventional power system with a diesel engine and alternative power system with a selected battery to identify convenient technology for zero-emission shipping according to the environmental and economic criteria. The Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) and the Life-Cycle Cost Assessment (LCCA) are performed to analyze environmental and economic performance of different powering options. The analysis included ro-ro passenger ships from the Croatian short-sea navigation, highlighting the electrification by a Lithium-ion battery as the most appropriate alternative according to environmental and economic indicators.

The feasibility of autonomous low-emission ro-ro passenger shipping in the Adriatic Sea

Digitalization, artificial intelligence, and awareness of climate change are the driving forces of the rapid development of the transportation industry. As seaborne trade grows, the maritime sector is exploring the applicability of alternative powering options and ways to implement new technologies to increase safety and efficiency. Autonomous ships have recently generally been presented as more cost-effective and environmentally friendly than conventional manned ships. This paper deals with the feasibility of autonomous ro-ro passenger ships combined with the application of alternative power options, where the Croatian short-sea shipping sector is taken as an illustrative example. An analysis is conducted for heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil, liquefied natural gas, methanol, electricity, and fossil and renewable hydrogen for three different ships operating on short, medium, and relatively long routes. For the ship lifetime of 20 years, through five Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), the environmental and economic impact of the considered options is evaluated and the potential for their autonomous application is investigated. Taking into account the contrasts between conventional and autonomous ships, the differences in the costs for autonomous ship are outlined, and the KPIs of conventional and autonomous ro-ro passenger ships are compared. The results indicate that from an environmental and economic point of view, methanol and electricity-powered ships are the best option for all three routes. Regarding autonomous shipping, the ecological and economic benefits are obvious for all the considered power options and ships, except for the renewable hydrogen-powered ship operating on the longest route.

Fatigue Analysis of 5000 GT Ferry Ro-Ro’s Car Deck Using Finite Element Method

Ro-Ro Passenger Ship type crossing ship is a ship that is operated to connect 2 (two) ports. On the Ro-Ro ship there is a car deck as one of the vital construction structures, because it is used to support the vehicle load on it. This study aims to determine the value of fatigue life in car deck construction by reviewing hot spot stress areas that are prone to cracking. The value of the fatigue analysis is taken from the greatest stress value and the shortest cycle is taken at each plate thickness variation. The method used is the finite element method (FEM) by varying the thickness of the car deck plate assisted by using finite element based software. The results showed the highest maximum stress was found on car deck 1 with a thickness of 80% (9.6 mm) which was 241.16 Mpa, while the lowest minimum stress was found on car deck 2 with a thickness of 110% (13 mm) which was 103.07 Mpa. The highest value of fatigue life is found in car deck 2 with a plate thickness of 110% (13 mm) of 74.23 years with a stress cycle of 1350000 times, while the lowest fatigue life value is found in car deck 1 with a plate thickness of 80% (9.6 mm) of 7.63 years with a voltage cycle of 220000 times

Numerical analysis and staircase layout optimisation for a Ro-Ro passenger ship during emergency evacuation

In this research, the effects of the passenger population composition and ship familiarity in an emergency evacuation are analysed. The results identified that the effects of different population compositions on the Ro-Ro evacuation process vary significantly. It is therefore recommended that a targeted survey of the population on a specific ship should be conducted before the evacuation analysis to improve the analysis accuracy of the evacuation process. It is not always the case that a higher familiarity with the ship staircase layout necessarily results in less time to complete the evacuation, and the issue of balanced exits has to be considered due to its significant impact. The results obtained in this research can be used to aid the ship's staircase layout optimisation to facilitate the evacuation process. Given the type of Ro-Ro vessel in this analysis, it is suggested that adding a staircase towards the bow of the ship can reduce the evacuation time by 13.6%, when considering 95% of the passengers to complete an evacuation. Similarly, adding one staircase at the stern can reduce the time by approximately 10% for all passengers to complete the evacuation. It is not recommended that the size of staircases towards the middle of the ship should be adjusted.

Sensitivity Analysis of Optimal Power Dispatch for All-Electric Ship

Shipping industry is reforming and changing fast, as the International Maritime Organization (IMO) works towards air pollution prevention and ship-owners pursue more efficient operation of their ships. Formerly, propulsion and electric load dispatch in ship power system is implemented proportionally with respect to nominal power of prime movers and generators respectively. Additionally, integrated full electric propulsion, optimal real-time dispatch to ship generators and the integration of new systems, such as energy storage systems, shaft generators etc. could have gained a wider application. In this paper the optimal dispatch for ship power system based on Lagrange method is presented comparing the classic and all-electric ship design. The developed method is applied to an ten years old Ro-Ro (roll on / roll off) passenger ship and an analytical sensitivity analysis is occurred out with respect not only to technical characteristics of the ship, such as fuel kind, propulsion chain factors, but also voyage characteristics, such as ship speed, route length etc.

Passengers’ safety awareness and perception of wayfinding tools in a Ro-Ro passenger ship during an emergency evacuation

Wayfinding tools are important parts of the emergency evacuation identification system, which can improve passengers’ understanding of the evacuation process, and guide people to evacuate quickly. However, there are few systematic studies on passengers' safety awareness and perception of wayfinding tools and evacuation procedures in case of passenger ship emergencies. This paper aims to demonstrate the current levels and status of ship passenger’s safety awareness, the perception of emergency wayfinding tools and the demographic differences regarding safety awareness and perception. These objectives are achieved by examining the characteristics of passengers of a vessel transport route between Yantai and Dalian through the application of questionnaires and statistical analysis techniques. Questionnaire responses of 1,373 passengers indicated that a number of passengers had seen the ship emergency evacuation plan (56.8%), exit signs (56%), and emergency public address (PA) (53.5%). However, 32.2% did not fully understand or comprehend the content and availability of the vessel’s emergency evacuation plan, 31.5% did not understand the exit signs and 32.9% did not understand the emergency PA. The obtained ordered logistic regression results show that there are demographic differences in safety awareness, perception of wayfinding tools among passengers.