Numerical Study on the Maneuvering of a Ship in Waves Based on Unified State Space Model

Ship maneuvering performance is usually predicted in calm water conditions, which provide valuable information about ship’s turning ability and its directional stability in the early design stages. Investigation of maneuvering simulation in waves is more realistic since the ship usually sails through waves. So it is important to study the effect of waves on the turning ability of a ship. This paper presents the maneuvering simulation for a container ship in presence of regular waves based on unified state space model for ship maneuvering. Standard maneuvers like turning circle and zigzag maneuver are simulated for the head sea condition and the same are compared with calm water maneuvers. The present study shows that wave significantly affects the maneuvering characteristics of the ship and hence cannot be neglected.