A simplified approach for voyage analysis of fouled hull in a tropical marine environment

ABSTRACT

Tropical ocean environment teems with microorganisms, of which some adhere, either to the static ship hull or while en-route to the destination increasing roughness. A typical voyage analysis takes into account parameters like speed, power, propeller speed, displacement, fouling and weather conditions. Wind and wave data in the present study have been acquired from data buoys deployed along the voyage route from Chennai to Singapore. The differential equation of a ship undergoing acceleration is considered and solved to obtain voyage time and distance. Calculations to reach design speed were performed for various loading conditions. Limited experiments were performed in the towing tank using a ship model for various draft conditions. Granville's similarity law has been relied upon to arrive at the frictional resistance and is discussed in this paper. The loads due to wind and waves were specifically calculated for the ship with a fouled hull heading in its design speed.

KEYWORDS:

• Routeing
• bio-fouling
• ship resistance
• environmental loads
• voyage analysis
• sea trials

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).