A ROBUST HOLISTIC OPTIMIZATION SHIP DESIGN APPROACH WITH VOYAGE SIMULATION PRINCIPLES AND ITS APPLICATIONS

Abstract

The challenges commercial shipping faces in terms of the IMO decarbonisation agenda in combination with volatile freight and capital markets call for the drastic rethinking of the way ships are designed and operated in the next decades. This paper presents a novel approach that allows the creation of a robust, market-informed, simulation-supported framework, able to systematically explore at an early stage the multi-variable, multi-objective design space for large oceangoing commercial vessels (bulkers, tankers, containerships etc.). It results in a rigorous exploitation of the available solutions improving the decision-making process. The Robust Holistic Optimisation Ship Design Approach (RHODA) combines voyage simulation with multiple layers of uncertainty: voyage, environmental, market and method. A case study on its impact on the design optimisation path for a conventional bulk carrier and its sensitivity and comparison to “deterministic” approaches is presented.