System of automatic generation of ship maneuver documentation

Abstract

According to the definition in the resolution International Maritime Organization no A.860 (IMO 1997) navigation is the process of planning, recording, and controlling the movement of a craft from one place to another. When navi-gating in special conditions, for example, when approaching a port or in restricted areas, it is immensely important to know the vessel's maneuverability. Therefore, identifiable information must be available on each vessel. Each watch officer is required to have the necessary knowledge of both the equipment and maneuverability of his own vessel. The description and scope of the documentation containing this data are provided in IMO Resolution A.601 (IMO, 1987). The maneuver documents that must be available on the navigation bridge are Pilot Card and Wheelhouse Poster also Maneuvering Booklet. The timeliness of the data contained in the maneuver documentation significantly influences the safety of navigation. At present, the maneuver documentation is not created in an automated manner. Automation of registration and data processing process will increase the knowledge of the behavior of the own vessel. In addition, it allows to obtain maneuvering data that exceeds the parameters necessary to prepare ship documentation. Especially research carried out in various hydrometeorological conditions, enabling the assessment of the movement of the ship on the waves. These data can be used to carry out research projects related to the subject of vessel behavior analysis. That is why the authors have made an attempt to automate the registration and processing of data necessary to create documents and their continuous generation in electronic form. In this article the authors present a proprietary comput-er application that enables the achievement of the assumed goals along with checking the applications functionality on a selected type of a vessel. The correct operation of the system has been verified based on real study and simulation tests.