Effects of Weather Routing on Maximum Vertical Bending Moment in a Ship Taking Account of Wave-Induced Vibrations

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of weather routing and ship operations on the extreme vertical bending moment (VBM) in a 6000TEU class large container ship which is operated in North Atlantic Ocean is addressed. A direct time-domain nonlinear response simulation method taking account of the wave-induced vibrations is combined with a voyage simulation based on 10 years of meteorological data in the area. The probability distribution of the ship's operational parameters conditional upon the meteorological conditions is considered. It is clarified that the most severe wave condition with the significant wave height over 16 m in the area may not be encountered by the ship due to the weather routing and the extreme value is determined mostly by the wave condition much milder than the most severe in the area. It is also found out that the ship speed assumed in the most contributing sea state strongly affects the extreme value of the total VBM. It is explained by the fact that the wave-induced vibrations in the ship tend to be excited at faster speed.