Ro-Ro Vessels Research Articles

Ship emission variations during the COVID-19 from global and continental perspectives

The COVID-19 pandemic and the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) 2020 fuel-switching policy have profoundly impacted global maritime activities, leading to unprecedented changes in shipping emissions. This study aimed to examine the effects from different scales and investigate the underlying drivers. The big data model Ship Emission Inventory Model (SEIM) was updated and applied to analyze the spatiotemporal pattern of global ship emissions as well as the main contributors in 2019 and 2020. Overall, ships emitted NOx, CO, HC, CO2, and N2O declined by 7.4 %–13.8 %, while SO2, PM2.5, and BC declined by 40.9 %–81.9 % in 2020 compared with 2019. The decline in CO2 emissions indicated a comparable reduction across vessel tonnages. Ship emissions occurring at cruising status accounted for over 90 % of the ship's CO2 emission reduction. Container ships, chemical tankers, and Ro-Ro vessels were the primary contributors to the emission reductions, with container ships alone responsible for 39.4 % of the CO2 decrease. The ship's CO2 emissions variations revealed the decline-rebound patterns in response to the pandemic. Asian-related routes saw emissions drop in February 2020, followed by a rebound in May, while European and American routes experienced declines starting in May, with a recovery in August. Further analysis of CO2 emission in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) showed high temporal consistency between vessel CO2 emissions, sailing speeds, and international trade volumes across continents, and exhibited heterogeneity in main contributing ship type of emission reduction on continental scale. Our study reveals the short-term fluctuation characteristics of global ship emissions during the pandemic, particularly focusing on their spatiotemporal evolution and the inherent disparities. The results highlight the correlation between global ship emissions and trade, as well as the operational status of ships, and their rigidity.

BEYOND THE HORIZON: FUTURE TECHNOLOGIES TRANSFORMING MARITIME NAVIGATION

The shipping industry is constantly evolving to meet today's demands and challenges. This article explores how innovations and trends in shipping are influencing the efficiency, sustainability and competitiveness of this vital sector of the global economy. Analysing technological transformations and emerging practices, the paper reveals how new technologies and cross-company collaborations are shaping the future of the maritime industry. The example of the BYD Explorer fleet, the first Ro-Ro vessel specialised in transporting electric cars, underlines the adaptability and innovation in response to the current needs of the automotive industry and sustainability requirements. At the same time, the collaboration between MOL and Bearing, which has led to the development of advanced solutions based on artificial intelligence, demonstrates the positive impact of innovation in optimising maritime operations.

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.

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.

Simulation result of the effects of radiation noise from long-distance ships on marine mammals

In recent, there is a worldwide concern that underwater noise from human activities may have impacted marine life. The international community recognizes the underwater radiated noise from navigational ships may have consequences on marine life. However, there is no scientific evidence for these, so they need to be investigated. MLIT launched the project with the aim of understanding the current status of underwater noise by navigational ships. In this project, a hydrophone has been installed in the sea off Ohshima Island since 2020 to measure the noise by navigational ships around the hydrophone. The purpose of this study , first is to calculate the source level of ship radiation noise using the normal mode method with the ship noise data obtained from hydrophone measurements. Second is to simulate the propagation of the source level using Parabolic Equation (PE) with the marine environment of the propagation path as a parameter. Finally, based on the results of propagation simulations, we examine the impact of ship noise on whales. As a result, revealed the noise levels emitted from RORO vessels, and by simulating the propagation of the noise levels, it was possible to confirm the distances that affect the whale's hearing.

Techno-Economic and Environmental Evaluation of a Solar Energy System on a Ro-Ro Vessel for Sustainability

The increased use of fossil fuels in transportation is considered a major cause of environmental pollution and climate change on a global scale. In international shipping, regulations and strict measures have been introduced by the International Maritime Organization to achieve the goal of a 40% reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030, with the envisage to reach net-zero GHG emissions close to 2050. Renewable energy sources, such as solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, can be implemented on new-build or existing marine vessels as an effective alternative source for auxiliary power generation, reducing the dependency on fossil fuels and contributing to decarbonization. In the present paper, a sustainable retrofit design using PV panels on an existing Ro-Ro vessel is analyzed for its feasibility. The proposed system is used for energy production during ship cargo operations and takes advantage of the large space area on the upper deck and its continuous exposure to sunlight during its voyage. To investigate the effectiveness of the PV system as an alternative to fossil fuel consumption, an environmental and economic evaluation is performed. According to the results obtained, the solar PV system can provide approximately 88% of the required energy annually for lighting during ship cargo operations, with the corresponding fuel savings and emission reductions, making the investment economically feasible, with a high potential to contribute to environmental sustainability.

Fire Resistance Characteristics of Firewall Structure Associated with Impact Damage Induced by Explosion

When a fire accident accompanied by an explosion occurs, the surrounding firewalls are affected by impact and thermal loads. Damaged firewalls due to accidental loads may not fully perform their essential function. Therefore, this paper proposes an advanced methodology for evaluating the fire resistance performance of firewalls damaged by explosions. The fragments were assumed to be scattered, and fire occurred as a vehicle exploded in a large compartment of a roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) vessel. The impact velocity of the fragments was calculated based on the TNT equivalent mass corresponding to the explosion pressure. Damage and thermal-structural response analyses of the firewall were performed using Ansys LS-DYNA code. The fire resistance reduction was analyzed in terms of the temperature difference between fire-exposed and unexposed surfaces, temperature increase rate, and reference temperature arrival time. The degree of damage and the fire resistance performance of the firewalls varied significantly depending on impact loads. When naval ships and RO-RO vessels that carry various explosive substances are designed, it is reasonable to predict that the fire resistance performance will be degraded according to the explosion characteristics of the cargo.

Analisis Kebutuhan Frekuensi Kapal Ro-Ro Dalam Melayani Penyeberangan

Air Putih - Sei Selari crossing of Bengkalis regency has a distance of 5 miles. The total number of Ro-Ro vessels operating at the parallel crossing of Air Putih – Sei Selari is 6 vessels with a rolling system where 4 vessels operate and 2 vessels are off / standby. The number of trips served per day is an average of 20 trips. However, the overall number of ships operating on a fairly close trajectory is not balanced with optimal ship operating time service. As a result there is a queue of ships to dock. In this study used several methods of analysis to solve the problems that occur, including load factor analysis, frequency analysis required and analysis of the needs of the number of ships. From the results of the analysis it was found that the ideal number of ship frequencies under normal and congested conditions were 21 trips/day and 24 trips/day respectively. Scheduling is based on ship service time during normal and busy times, both of that condition have Sailing Time 35 minutes, headways 90 minutes at normal condition and 103 minutes at congested, Layover time 20 minutes at normal times and 25 minutes at congested, so as to minimize the length of waiting time for ships to dock on the wharf. With a total of 6 ships, the ship operating schedule per day uses a ship rolling system with the division of 3 ships in operation and 3 ships off / standby.

The selection of appropriate Ro-Ro Vessel in the second-hand market using the WASPAS’ Bonferroni approach in type 2 neutrosophic fuzzy environment

The second-hand vessel market has quite different dynamics than the market of the new-building vessel, and highly complicated and conflicting criteria and many uncertainties affect the ship selection process. Therefore, it is required to use a robust mathematical model to solve these kinds of decision-making problems. For this purpose, this paper presents an extended version of WASPAS (Weighted Aggregated Sum Product ASsessment) techniques with the help of T2NN based on the Bonferroni function (T2NN WASPAS’B). The three main focal points of the proposed approach are (i) setting the influential criteria to select the appropriate Ro-Ro vessel in the second-hand vessel market; and (ii) presenting a flexible group decision-making approach, which is proper to real decision-making problems. (iii) detecting the interrelations among criteria and eliminating the negative impacts of undesirable and excessive values in input variables on the results. Practical use of the proposed approach is demonstrated to select the appropriate Ro-Ro vessel in the second-hand market. The analysis results show that the most effective and determinative factor is Trailer Lane length, and the most effective alternative is GREIFSWALD. Besides, the consistency and validity of the obtained results have been verified with the help of a stability and robustness check. The results prove that the proposed novel T2NN WASPAS’B model is robust, powerful, and reliable for making rational and realistic decisions.

ZERO INFRASTRUCTURE GEOLOCATION OF NEARBY FIRST RESPONDERS ON RO-RO VESSELS

The early suppression of fires on ro-ro vessels requires rapid fire identification as a fire of medium growth exponentially reaches 50kW after only 1 minute. Fire patrol members (e.g., able seamen) are asked to act as first responders in such fire incident cases. They do however lack the necessary digital technology for immediate localization, verification and coordination with the bridge and other first responders. Indoor localization requires dense referencing systems (such as Wi-Fi, UWB, Bluetooth antennas), but these technologies require expensive installations and maintenance. Also, Satellite-based indoor localization is obstructed by the bulky steel structures of vessels, so this doesn’t work either. Within the LASH FIRE project, an H2020 funded project (Grant Agreement #814975) in which this publication is framed, research has been carried out to develop a ground-breaking localization technology that requires zero infrastructure using computer vision on commodity smartphone devices attached to the gear of first responders. The developed solution comprises of three steps: (i) Training, where vessel owners supply video recordings that are processed on a deep learning data center to produce an accurate computer vision machine learning model; (ii) Logging, where a mobile app allows referencing non-movable objects to the (x,y,deck) coordinates of a vessel; and (iii) Localization, where first responders localize on a digital map. Additionally, in case a sparse communication network is available, first responders can share their location, emergency messages and heat scan images with nearby first responders and the bridge. Our proposed technology is shown to be 80% and 90% accurate for localization and tracking scenarios, respectively, in a study we carried out with video traces from a real ro-ro vessel. The overall developed Smart Alert System (SMAS), streamlines the lengthy fire verification, coordination, and reaction process in the early stages of a fire, improving fire safety.

Analysis of accidents during vehicle stowage on RO-RO vessels by using Fuzzy Bayesian networks

Maritime transport is a risky type of transport due to its nature. As a result of the accidents, serious consequences that cause death, material damage and environmental pollution occur. Therefore, maritime safety researchers are trying to develop measures to reduce the risks posed by maritime operations. In this study, the Bayesian network (BN) method is used in the Fuzzy logic environment to analyse the risks during the stowage of vehicles in roll-on/roll-off vessels (Ro-Ro), a type of maritime transport. Fuzzy logic was used to estimate uncertainties in risk assessment, and a Bayesian network was used to identify risks and assess the probabilities of contributing sub-causes. Validation and sensitivity analyses were applied to the obtained findings, and their accuracy was tested under various conditions. The article contributes to eliminating the data gap on vehicle stowage operation risks. It also provides practical contributions to all maritime stakeholders (shipowners, stevedores, authorities, etc.) in risk reduction.

Evaluating Capsize Boundary of Damaged Ro-Ro Ship Using Chaos Theory and Probabilistic Analysis

Instability in intact condition occurs when a ship’s motion changes periodically with time i.e. frequency of motion will match with free- roll frequency or multiples. In case of damage stability, the instability occurs due to flood water sloshing, a series of vibration occur along with free surface effect, which changes the metacentric height of ship. Mathieu's effect is the linear theory behind instability. Probabilistic damage stability analysis is performed in damage cases for the Ro-Ro vessel to understand the most critical loading condition. Phase plots and radial plots are used to find critical stability parameters for ship at intact condition. A new method for modeling the nonlinear dynamic behavior of ship in the chaotic flooded condition is developed and the results indicate that the vessel behaviour of flooded ship is similar to the Duffings oscillation equation and the stability conditions can be captured by this model.

Optimal dual cycling operations in roll-on roll-off terminals

Roll-on roll-off (RoRo) shipping plays an important role in freight transport on the European continent, and is faced with the challenge of reducing its CO2 emissions while increasing its efficiency. Dual cycling, in which loading and discharging processes are carried out simultaneously, achieves this goal by reducing the turnaround time of vessels in port and thus the CO2 output of handling equipment in port and fuel consumption through slow steaming at sea. Optimizing the dual cycling operations on RoRo vessels has not yet been investigated in the literature. This paper presents the novel RoRo dual cycling problem (RRDCP), and formulates it using integer programming (IP) with the objective to minimize the total makespan of discharging and loading operations. We further prove that the RRDCP is NP-complete by a reduction from a general machine scheduling problem, and introduce a novel heuristic to solve the problem called a generalized random key algorithm (GRKA). We evaluate the IP model and GRKA approach on both generated and industrial instances, showing that the GRKA heuristic finds optimal or near-optimal solutions to real-world problems in just seconds. We provide managerial insights on industrial instances, which indicate that our approach leads to a reduction in fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of up to 25% for RoRo operations.

Rooting for ro-ro: Exploring how strategic choices by pulp and paper companies contributed to Sweden's specialized maritime export systems, 1960–2015

The Nordic, particularly Swedish and Finnish, pulp and paper (P&P) companies are represented in earlier research as using specialized maritime transport systems – based on roll-on/roll-off (ro-ro) vessels – in long-term collaborations with shipping companies after the Second World War. However, the strategic choices of the P&P companies that led to this development have not been researched. Based on studies of the Swedish P&P companies that developed specialized maritime transport systems during the period 1960–2015, this article sheds light on the reasons for these maritime transport systems. As well as the growth of exports, the expansion of P&P companies through mergers and acquisitions and the increased value of the exported goods, the study shows that the Swedish ro-ro trend, diversified and sensitive products, pressure from customers for frequent and speedy deliveries, and a fairly short distance to stable main markets, were additional factors.

EFFECT OF WATERTIGHT SUBDIVISION ON DAMAGE STABILITY OF RO-RO FERRIES

Effect of various subdivision arrangements of ro-ro vessels on damage stability is discussed. The arrangements included single and double sides both below and above the car deck, with and without a double buoyant car deck, and with or with- out a watertight tween deck below the car deck. This gave as many as 16 various arrangements for each compartment length. The double sides both above and below the car deck are of the same width b = 0.1B. The double bottom, when not flooded, worsens damage stability. The car deck and tween decks should be ‘openwork’, to be transparent for water and air. Oth- erwise, the ship can capsize at the very initial stages of flooding. Double sides and a double car deck together improve con- siderably damage stability, both in terms of maximum arm and range. A new characteristic was introduced, termed the critical deck height. Flooding a deck above the critical height leads to a rapid capsizing of the ship.

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.

CO2 Emissions Reduction Measures for RO-RO Vessels on Non-Profitable Coastal Liner Passenger Transport

Reducing CO2 emissions from ships in unprofitable coastline transport using electricity and hydrogen has potential for island development to improve transport and protect biodiversity and nature. New technologies are a challenge for shipping companies and their introduction should be accompanied by a system of state aid for alternative energy sources. The energy requirements of an electric ferry for a route of up to 6 km were considered, as well as the amount of hydrogen needed to generate the electricity required to charge the ferry batteries to enable a state aid scheme. For a daily ferry operation, a specific fuel consumption of 60.6 g/kWh of liquid hydrogen is required in the system fuel cell with a total of 342.69 kg of hydrogen. Compared to marine diesel, the use of electric ferries leads to a reduction of CO2 emissions by up to 90%, including significantly lower NOx, Sox, and particulate matter (PM) emissions, and operating costs by up to 80%.

Forecast of oil slick drift from Ulysse/ CSL Virginia and Grande America accidents

Abstract number 1141410 Two recent accidents with a significant oil spill occurred near the French coast. One in the Mediterranean Sea and the other in the Bay of Biscay. On October 7, 2018, the Tunisian ro-ro vessel Ulysses collided with the Cypriot container ship CSL Virginia at anchor off northern Corsica. The spilled bunker oil could not be fully recovered by the French and Italian anti-pollution vessels due to unfavourable weather conditions. Pellets and highly viscous patties arrived on the beaches of the French Riviera on October 16, 2018. The beaching dates and locations of the main slicks were perfectly predicted using the MOTHY drift model combined with the currents of the CMEMS MED-Currents system. On March 12, 2019, the merchant ship Grande America sank at a depth of 4600 m, 350 km off the French coast, in the Bay of Biscay. It caused a spill of bunker oil and loss of containers. The MOTHY drift model is used daily during the aerial surveillance and recovery at sea period. It provides drift forecasts for oil slicks and containers up to 3 days in deterministic mode and up to 10 days in probabilistic mode. Long-term modelling of residual diffused pollution is also carried out, in particular to manage continuous leakage from the wreck. A technical committee of experts meets daily to evaluate drift observations and forecasts. It focuses on the best choices of available ocean models. Drift forecasts did not indicate any oil arrival to the coast. This allowed the authorities to organise the response at sea without mobilising resources ashore. Indeed, no pollution was observed on the coasts.

The Effects of Side-Casings Balance on Open-Deck-Ro-Ro Vessels in Term of Intact Stability

Roll-on Roll-of (Ro-Ro) is one of the most favourite types of ship, which can carry passengers, cars, and cargoes at the same time. Reports from National Committee for Safety Transportation (KNKT) indicated that there is tendency of increase of Ro-Ro vessels accidents due to stability problems. The current paper discusses an Open-Car-Deck-Ro-Ro 40 m length without side-casings which capsized on Halmahera sea. The Ro-Ro was originally designed with side-casings on the right and left sides of car deck but removed to improve car deck capacity. The side-casings reduce one truck capacity, improve 72.539 GT, and improve survival stability. The Ro-Ro stability was calculated with four loading conditions with assumption weight and center gravity (KG) of the ship with and without side-casings the same. It shows all condition with added side-casings will increase righting lever GZ at angle ≥ 10°. Also, range righting lever curve GZ positive increase, at full load arrival 0°-29° become 0°-53°, at full load departure 0°-25° become 0°-42°, at ballast load arrival 0°-44° become 0°-66°, and at ballast load departure 0°-36° become 0°-52°. Then stability curves were assessed by Intact Stability Code 2008 (ISC 2008) obtained all load case ship with side-casings pass all criteria otherwise ship without side-casings fail especially area 30°-40° ≥ 0.03 m.rad and maximum GZ ≥ 25°. The case study indicates installed side-casings reduce cargo capacity but improve survival stability.

Development of Parametric Trend Life Cycle Assessment for marine SOx reduction scrubber systems

In response to the impending international maritime regulation, MARPOL Annex VI Reg. 14, to curb sulphur oxides (SOx) arising from shipping activities, this paper aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the entire life cycle of three different SOx reduction scrubber systems: (1) ‘wet open-loop’, (2) ‘wet closed-loop’, and (3) ‘wet hybrid’. To achieve this goal, the paper developed ‘the Parametric Trend Life Cycle Assessment (PT-LCA)’ which was introduced to proceed the extensive analysis for a number of case ship studies and quantify various emissions, such as greenhouse gases (GHG), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), associated with the proposed systems from cradle to grave. A case study designed with the database consisting of 1,565 ocean-going Ro-Ro vessels based on Lloyd’s Register has revealed that, in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Acidification Potential (AP), closed-loop scrubbers were proven more environmentally friendly than open-loop scrubbers, but the opposite was true for Eutrophication Potential (EP). By identifying specific trends in scrubber systems in relation to various input parameters, the assessment contributed to improving environmental sustainability, as well as the total estimated amount of numerical environmental impacts that the scrubber systems have for the international fleets. The proposed framework enabled us not only to evaluate the different emission levels of systems applied to various ships but also to obtain the general trends of emission levels over ship parameters, which were expressed as formulae. The novelty of this paper can be placed on the provision of an insight into the optimal selection of scrubber systems depending on ship characteristics. It could also offer an insight into the improvement of current environmental regulations and guidelines by means of PT-LCA.