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

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.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the issue of ship hull fouling in tropical ocean environment, analyzing voyage data taking into account wind and wave conditions, calculating the design speed for various loading conditions, solving differential equations to obtain voyage time and distance, and relying on Granville's similarity law to calculate frictional resistance and loads due to wind and waves for ships with fouled hulls at design speed.