Ro-Ro Ship Research Articles

Contribution of Onshore Power Supply (OPS) and Batteries in Reducing Emissions from Ro-Ro Ships in Ports

Increasingly restrictive environmental regulations for the maritime sector have led shipping companies to look for technological alternatives to reduce emissions. This article introduces a methodology to analyse emission reductions of ships in port by incorporating batteries into the ships or using an onshore power supply system. These have not yet been considered together for comparison or with a focus on ship operation. The aim is to avoid the use of auxiliary engines in ports. First, the cost calculation method to be used is specified; then, the engine’s behaviour and the established basic navigation criteria are analysed; and finally, different alternatives are considered. A methodology is afterwards defined for selecting alternatives, comparing their costs with those of using auxiliary engines in port. As an example, it is applied to a Ro-Ro route between the ports of Montoir (France) and Vigo (Spain). The results indicate that incorporating batteries into the ship produces greater savings in annual costs than onshore power supply. The cost savings from onshore power supply depend on the range of prices in each port. However, the greatest emission savings are obtained by using the onshore power supply. This methodology can be extrapolated to other routes and vessels by incorporating real operating data.

Fire Risk Model for Fires in Ro-Ro Ship Ro-Ro Spaces

In recent years, fire accidents on Ro-Ro ships have led to numerous fatalities and significant economic losses. The response of the crew and the ship's protection systems are crucial in managing these incidents and mitigating their consequences. To assess fire safety improvements, this study has focused on developing and quantifying a risk model that captures the dynamics of a fire starting in a Ro-Ro space. Various risk modelling techniques were reviewed to construct the model, which was then quantified using historical data, simulations, and expert judgments. A Delphi-based, fully digital approach to expert elicitation was introduced, utilizing Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Excel-based questionnaires. This method ensured full anonymity for the experts, reducing the risk of group bias and eliminating the need for travel. To enhance understanding and verify the results, uncertainty and sensitivity analyses were performed. They revealed that the potential loss of life deviated, with 90% confidence, from the calculated mean value by less than 26%. Overall, the questionnaire-based method proved effective for expert elicitation and for quantifying nodes in the risk model, demonstrating its utility in the risk assessment process.

Strategi Peningkatan Volume Muatan Kapal Roro Trayek Makassar-Jakarta di PT Bumi Lintas Tama Kalla Lines

This study aims to determine the factors that affect the low volume of cargo and get the right action strategy to increase the volume of cargo of RollOn–RollOff (RoRo) Makassar-Jakarta route at PT Bumi Lintas Tama Kalla Lines. The type of data used in this research is quantitative data, namely about the main size of the ship (LOA, LBP, B, H and T), the ship's cargo capacity, the size of the ship's loading space, the number of ship decks, determining the internal and external factors that influence the handling of Roro Ferry shiploads with interviews and questionnaires and Questionnaire Forms. Using the method with the results obtained from the calculation of the load factor and the determination of the fishbone diagram factors to get the root cause of the lack of RoRo ship cargo volume. The sample in this study were 50 respondents consisting of practitioners at the Port and AMI Maritime Polytechnic Lecturers in Makassar. The results of this study indicate that the company adopts a conventional system that focuses on one side, namely incoming cargo or the Jakarta-Makassar route. In addition, the use of SWOT analysis found that the situation experienced by PT Bumi Lintas Tama is in quadrant IV, indicating an unfavorable situation with various internal threats and weaknesses. It is recommended to focus on strengthening internal strengths and overcoming weaknesses. As for its operational efficiency and performance, it should adopt a more holistic approach and consider using methods other than the fishbone method.

PROBLEMS OF FIRE PROTECTION IN THE RO-RO SPACE OF ROLL-ON/ROLL-OFF SHIPS DURING AN ELECTRIC VEHICLE FIREPart 1 Problem areas in fire protection of cargo decks of ro-ro ships in the context of an electric vehicle fire

The advancement of electric vehicles is linked to the increasing concern about the world’soil resources running out and the problem of global climate change. As global sea trade keepsexpanding quickly, the characteristics of ships also change, as they become bigger, carry morepassengers, and new risky goods emerge, including, for example, electric vehicles. The articlediscusses challenges of preventing fires on ro-ro ships with regard to electric car fires, which arebecoming more recognizable due to their increasing prevalence and consists of two parts. Part 1covers some key challenges of fire safety on the cargo decks of ro-ro ships when an electric carcatches fire and the main aspects of fire safety regulations for seagoing roll-on/roll-off ships inthe ro-ro space. Problematic areas were considered in the following aspects: features of maritimetransport, specifics of cargo carriage on a ro-ro vessel, the difficulty of evacuating sailors andpassengers from a burning ship, specifics of firefighting on a ship, challenges and dangers ofelectric vehicle fires and lack of adequate fire protection and procedures on a ro-ro ship in termsof an electric car fire. The second part of this article presents some possible solutions to improvethe fire safety of ro-ro ships, on cargo decks, and the author’s idea of implementing a new fireprotection device consisting of fire ventilation. No other study has addressed fire safety challengesof ro-ro ships with such depth, especially given the emerging risk of electric cars.

Information system for production process of a ferry ro-ro ship hull block

Abstract Ship production process involves a complex flow of information between divisions in the shipyard. The flow of information is vital because it determines whether the ship production process is carried out according to the ship-building master schedule. In the era of industrial technology 4.0, the flow of information must be supported by a digital information system. Unfortunately, information handling is still manually conducted, especially in small domestic shipyards. Hence, it takes time to transfer and notify any information changes from one division to another. As a consequence, it potentially delays the completion of the ship construction. A digital information system for the ship production process will be beneficial, especially for small domestic shipyards, to stream information on the ship production processes. Preliminary research has been carried out to support the realization of a digital information system for ship production. This research was conducted to develop the system by identifying and formulating any information in the ship production process in a shipyard. Based on the finding, an information system for the ship production process was designed. The result of this research is the design of an information system for the production process of a ship hull block in a small domestic shipyard.

A probabilistic selection of fire scenarios considering operating condition in aircraft carrier’s hangar spaces

ABSTRACT Aircraft carrier hangars require sufficient space to enable essential functions such as aircraft preparation, stowage, handling of aviation fuel and munitions, etc. Consequently, the hangars are treated as high-fire-risk spaces owing to their operating conditions. Although hangar fire accidents are caused by various temporally and spatially varying fire hazards, fire safety designs for hangars follow a deterministic approach based on IMO regulations, similar to ro-ro ships. Hence, this paper proposes one hundred credible fire scenarios to enhance the fire safety design of hangar structures by utilizing Latin hypercube sampling. These fire scenarios were also employed to determine fire-induced loads in the form of exceedance curves. Moreover, the effect of fire frequency defining method and ship motions on fire consequences was quantitatively investigated through case study and CFD simulation.

End-to-end model-based trajectory prediction for ro-ro ship route using dual-attention mechanism.

With the rapid increase of economic globalization, the significant expansion of shipping volume has resulted in shipping route congestion, causing the necessity of trajectory prediction for effective service and efficient management. While trajectory prediction can achieve a relatively high level of accuracy, the performance and generalization of prediction models remain critical bottlenecks. Therefore, this article proposes a dual-attention (DA) based end-to-end (E2E) neural network (DAE2ENet) for trajectory prediction. In the E2E structure, long short-term memory (LSTM) units are included for the task of pursuing sequential trajectory data from the encoder layer to the decoder layer. In DA mechanisms, global attention is introduced between the encoder and decoder layers to facilitate interactions between input and output trajectory sequences, and multi-head self-attention is utilized to extract sequential features from the input trajectory. In experiments, we use a ro-ro ship with a fixed navigation route as a case study. Compared with baseline models and benchmark neural networks, DAE2ENet can obtain higher performance on trajectory prediction, and better validation of environmental factors on ship navigation.

Stability of a Ro-Ro Ship: An Assessment of the Impact of Electric Vehicle Transportation

In terms of service lives, ships have the ability to remain operational for extended periods of time, potentially exceeding several decades. Changes in machinery and equipment are dependent on technological improvements. The above change is most noticeable in the components that make up ship systems. Nonetheless, the movement of ships on the water involves research into a variety of topics, including static-dynamic equilibrium and the demands of speed and power. The study focuses on the growing fascination with electric automobiles, which can be ascribed to technology improvements, environmental policies, and the concept's widespread acceptance. As a result, there has been a boom in interest in purchasing electric vehicles and using them for transportation. When conventional internal combustion engine automobiles are considered during the design process of marine vessels that transport land vehicles, it is expected that electric vehicles (EVs) will be primarily transported by Roll-on/Roll-off (Ro-Ro) ships in the foreseeable future. However, weight discrepancies exist between electric vehicles and other models in the same category. The significant weight attributed to batteries emphasizes the significant possibility for advancement in modern battery technology. The purpose of this research is to look into the variations in the stability of a Ro-Ro vessel when transporting an equal number and weight of EVs and conventional automobiles.

Forecasting Ro-Ro Freight Transportation Demand at Samsun Port: A Hybrid Method Approach

ABSTRACT Türkiye's extensive coastline and geopolitics position necessitates the importance of Ro-Ro transportation with neighbouring countries. Türkiye's rapidly growing Ro-Ro transportation significantly contributes to imports and exports, which is of great importance to the national economy. Samsun Port is one of the most active ports in Türkiye's Ro-Ro transportation sector, operating in the Black Sea region. This study examined Ro-Ro transportation at Samsun Port, and future cargo forecasting was conducted. For this purpose, artificial neural networks and time series analysis methods were combined. Input variables used in the study included the number of Ro-Ro ships arriving at the port between 2009 and 2021, population figures, a specialized CPI indicator (fresh fruits and vegetables), and export values. The output variable was the amount of cargo carried by RoRo ships. According to the results obtained, it was observed that Samsun Port would have sufficient capacity for Ro-Ro transportation in the next 27 months in terms of wharf, port area, and operational space. Keywords: Samsun Port, Ro-Ro transportation, Port capacity, Forecasting

Contemporary Challenges and Regulatory Improvements Regarding “Temporary Passengers” on Ro-Ro Ships: A Case Study from South Korea

Contemporary Challenges and Regulatory Improvements Regarding “Temporary Passengers” on Ro-Ro Ships: A Case Study from South Korea

A Simulation Tool to Quantify the Consequences of Fires on Board Ro-Ro Ships

A Simulation Tool to Quantify the Consequences of Fires on Board Ro-Ro Ships

The causes and responses to cargo hold fire accidents in RoRo ships using AcciMap

ABSTRACT The recent string of cargo hold fire incidents on RoRo ships represents one of the most challenging types of ship fire accidents. The densely stowed vehicle cargo loading structure and large volume of RoRo ship cargo holds are factors that complicate firefighting efforts. In addition, vehicle cargoes have a higher likelihood of self-ignition compared to other types of cargo and produce dense smoke when a fire occurs. Combustible materials inside vehicles can also contribute to the spread of fires after they start. Particularly, the recent increase in demand for electric vehicles calls for changes in how we respond to potential cargo hold fires on RoRo ships and heightens the risk of such incidents. In this study, we analyzed major domestic and international RoRo cargo hold fire incidents using AcciMap, a system analysis method. Through this analysis, we identified needs for improved management of vehicle cargo conditions, responses to fixed firefighting systems and system inspections, as well as improvements to fire detection systems. By using a systems analysis approach, we were able to identify areas for improvement needed by ships, ports, governments, shippers, and shipping companies.

Effect of Electric Vehicle Transportation and Carbon Capture System on Concept Ro-Ro ship Stability and EEDI

In terms of their service life, ships may operate for decades. Hence, it depicts the rapid development of machinery and equipment due to the substantial advancement of technology. Indeed, the ship’s systems must be updated to accommodate these new instruments. However, the importance of investigating the static-dynamic equilibrium and speed-power demand is a matter of concern as the ships are in motion on the water. There are currently limitations on carbon emissions from ships. To comply with these regulations, either the use of fuels that produce fewer carbon emissions or the use of after-treatment techniques to prevent the release of carbon into the atmosphere are employed. The difficulty of integrating any new system into an existing ship increases the scope of the renovation. This study compares the stability, speed-power, and EEDI values of today’s most popular electric vehicles while being transported on a concept Ro-Ro ship with and without a Carbon Capture System (CCS) ship. In the scenario where the ship transports both conventional and electric vehicles, the number of vehicles transported remains constant, but the effects of electric vehicles being heavier are illustrated. A ship with CCS and loaded with electric vehicles has 23.5% less maximum GZ than a regular ship with the traditional vehicles loaded condition by approximately 6% less at an angle of heeling. Also, the EEDI level is approximately one-twentieth of the conventional model, which is an advantage of CCS.

Implementation Of Safety Equipment Above Kmp. Nusa Penida, Kmp. Nusa Bhakti And Kmp. Nusa Sakti Operates In Padangbai Port

The Padangbai Ferry terminal is a port managed by the BPTD XII Bali and West Nusa Tenggara. The Padangbai ferry terminal serves 2 routes with 26 Ro-Ro ships in operation. One of the important components in ferry transportation is safety. Safety is shown not only to service users but also to ship crews. On ships operating at the Padangbai Ferry Terminal, there are many damaged safety equipment including life jackets, lifebuoys, lifeboats and Fire protection (fire Extinguisher) the number of safety equipment that does not match the ship's needs based on Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS). The condition and number of safety equipment and Fire protection must be considered both in terms of the appropriateness of the tools and fittings so that in an emergency the existing safety equipment can be used properly as a form of carrying out the safety aspects of passengers on board. The number and condition of safety equipment and Fire protection that is not in accordance with the needs can endanger the safety of the lives of passengers if an accident occurs. The number of safety equipment must be able to accommodate the number of passengers and crew on board and fire extinguishers must be in good condition so that they can be used in a fire emergency.

Waste heat recovery assessment of triple heat-exchanger usage for ship main engine pre-heating and fresh water generation systems

In this study, the applicability, fuel saving and CO2 emission reducing potential of the triple heat-exchanger fed by the diesel generator exhaust gas with and without water steam have been studied for ship’s one and two main engines pre-heating and freshwater generation (FWG) cycles under port conditions with conducting energy and exergy analysis. The performance criteria (PC) and exergy efficiency (ε) values of the main engine pre-heating and freshwater generator systems of the Ro-Ro ship selected for the case study were determined by written Matlab 2021a codes merging CoolProp 6.4.2 database with Python. It was determined that even at the lowest operating load of the diesel generator (25%), the exhaust heat energy would be sufficient to preheat the main engine and generating fresh water with also saving fuel consumption. As a result, during the 12-h port period, each 1 kW heat energy reduction on steam will provide 0.0853 kg/h fuel saving in the boiler. Thus, 273 kg CO2 emission will be reduced for each kW of heat energy to be obtained. Considering the comparatively increased PC and ε values of whole system cycle containing common triple heat-exchanger for two main engines, it can be used conveniently and reliably on ships.

Thermodynamic and feasibility analysis of using diesel generator exhaust gases for ship main engine preheating at port periods

In this study, the feasibility and potential impact on fuel consumption of the proposed preheating system driven by diesel generator exhaust gas instead of steam to satisfy main engine pre-heating demands especially under port operation conditions have been analyzed according to the 1st and 2nd laws of thermodynamics. The proposed novel term named performance criteria (PC) and exergy efficiency (ε) values of the main engine preheating and cooling water systems of the Ro-Ro ship selected for the case study under the existing voyage and port operating conditions have been determined by written Matlab-2021a codes merging CoolProp-6.4.2 database with Python. It was determined that even at the lowest operating load of the diesel generator (25%), the exhaust heat energy would be sufficient to preheat the main engine with also reducing the fuel consumption. As a result, during the 12-hour port period, 22% of the boiler fuel consumption and 8% of the ship's fuel consumption can be saved. Accordingly, if a shipping company uses Mine Gas Oil as fuel, it will be able to achieve fuel savings of approximately US$ 32.000 on annual basis. Considering the fuel saving values, it has been determined that 1.016 tons of CO2 emissions for per port operation and 106 tons of annual CO2 emissions can be reduced. It was determined that, the PC and Ɛ values of the system decrease as the ambient temperature increases. In this context, there is a 7% decrease in the PC and a 5% decrease in the Ɛ for existing system and 8% decrease in the PC and a 2.5% decrease in the Ɛ for proposed system. It was also determined that the proposed new system is both physically and economically feasible and that the investment cost, which was determined to be in the range of US$ 30.000-US$ 35.000, can pay for itself after 1 year.

TERA of Gas Turbine Propulsion Systems for RORO Ships

Recently, regulations on emissions produced by vessels from international maritime organizations, along with the instability of fuel prices, have encouraged researchers to explore fuels and technology that are cleaner than heavy fuel oil and diesel engines. In this study, we employed the TERA method to evaluate the feasibility of using gas turbine engines with cleaner fuels as a replacement for diesel engines as a propulsion system for RORO ships. A sensitivity evaluation and risk assessment were also conducted to investigate the impact of applied emission taxes on the economic results. The findings indicated that the diesel engine emitted higher nitrogen oxide emissions than the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas and hydrogen. The gas turbine with hydrogen had zero carbon dioxide emissions, making it a sustainable energy production option. The economic aspects were evaluated based on an international route, and they revealed that economic profitability significantly depended on fuel costs and consumption. The diesel engine fuelled by marine diesel oil and the gas turbine fuelled by natural gas were economically attractive, whereas the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen was less viable due to its high operating cost. However, in a scenario where a carbon dioxide tax was introduced, the gas turbine fuelled by hydrogen showed high potential as a low-risk investment compared to the other technologies. In summary, this study demonstrated the usefulness of the TERA method in the maritime sector for selecting and comparing various propulsion systems.

Stowage Planning System for Ferry Ro-Ro Ships Using Particle Swarm Optimization Method

Stowage planning involves distributing cargo on board a ship, including quantity, weight, and destination details. It consists of collecting cargo manifest data, planning cargo location on decks, and calculating stability until the vessel is declared safe for sailing. Finding the ideal solution to real-world situations in this stowage planning problem is challenging and frequently requires a very long computing period. The Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is one of the evolutionary algorithms known for its efficient performance. PSO has been extended to complex optimization problems due to its fast convergence and easy implementation. In this study, the Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) method is implemented to automate stowage arrangements on ships considering three factors (width, length, and weight of the vehicle). This system was evaluated with KMP Legundi vehicle manifest data and four load cases of 12 different vehicle types that can be loaded on Ferry / Ro-Ro Ships. It provides complete vehicle layouts and allows interactive changes for stowage planners, ensuring speed and accuracy in arranging ship cargo.

Experimental study of fire containment using water mist curtains in a reduced-scale deck of a ro-ro ship

Experiments have been conducted to evaluate the containment of smoke and heat using water mist curtains in a model setup of a ro-ro ship's cargo deck with a scale of 1:13, providing practical insights into the application of such fire protection systems in the cargo deck as well as valuable data for future numerical simulations. In this regard, the requirements of the international convention of Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) are studied for the side openings of so-called ‘open decks’ in comparison with ‘closed decks’, especially to examine the feasibility of using water mist curtains for creating isolated subdivisions in the ro-ro space as a fire management strategy. The water mist curtains are created with one or two rows of water mist nozzles at pressures ranging from 3 to 8 bar, while the source of smoke and heat is a liquid pool fire, and inert cargo items are used in some experiments. Correspondingly, the interaction between the water mist curtain(s) and the fire is evaluated in terms of its heat release rate, and the containment effect is quantified via measurements of smoke flow through the deck and through the windows, concentrations of gaseous species, as well as gas temperatures at various key locations. The study shows that water mist curtains have a strong effect on fire dynamics and smoke propagation, but containment is dependent on the configuration of side openings and the location of fire, among other important factors.

Contribution for the Fire Protection Improvement on RO-RO Ships

Fire is one of the most dangerous types of an accident that might happen to a ship, highly harmful to the crew as well as to the ship itself, high temperature, toxic vapours and gases are created (generated) by the combustion of a combustible material. In addition to human casualties, a material damage was also included in the fire. Therefore, a significant role of the fire protection is timely notification of fire, enabling the quick intervention, the damage reduction and engagement of people and equipment. The possibilities of fire protection improvement are carefully studied by the authors on RO-RO ships. The aim is to point out the importance of fire protection preventive measures. The analysis of the article is based on the road tunnels fire alarm system and the possibilities of application on RO-RO ships. The authors have been suggesting the use of an optical sensor cable in garages on RO-RO ships as the main type of fire alarm system detectors.