SHIPMA 6

Fast-time simulation program for ship manoeuvring

The fast–time simulation program SHIPMA is a joint development of MARIN and Deltares.

Combining contributions from these institutes leads to a fit for purpose, state-of-the-art program to simulate the manoeuvring behaviour of vessels in ports and fairways.

In SHIPMA the vessels are steered by an auto-pilot which operates in a track keeping mode or in a harbour manoeuvring mode, making it capable of performing typical harbour manoeuvres like turning, reverse sailing and berthing.

The field of application of SHIPMA is primarily port and fairway design, referring to both approach channels, mooring basins, and inland waterways. According to PIANC a first estimate of the required channel width based on their methodology has to be followed by ship manoeuvring simulations.

These simulations give insight into the inherent possibilities and/or restrictions of vessels, infrastructure and environmental conditions including the effect of additional manoeuvring devices like bow- and stern thrusters and the role of tugs. Simulations can include detailed wave and flow data from numerical models such as Delft3D-WAVE or Delft3D-FLOW. Also wind information can be taken into account.

Based on the insights gained, mitigations, if needed, of the infrastructure design (updates of channel layout, manoeuvring basin and terminal layout) and/or the admittance policy (windows of operation) can be proposed. In the final stage of the design, the SHIPMA simulations can be followed by a study on a real-time simulator.