Impact of Hull Condition and Propeller Surface Maintenance on Fuel Efficiency of Ocean-Going Vessels

Abstract

The fuel consumption of marine diesel engines holds paramount importance in contemporary maritime transportation and shapes energy efficiency strategies of ocean-going vessels. Nonetheless, a noticeable gap in knowledge prevails concerning the influence of ship hull conditions and propeller roughness on fuel consumption. This study bridges this gap by utilizing artificial intelligence techniques in Matlab, particularly convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to comprehensively investigate these factors. We propose a time-series prediction model that was built on numerical simulations and aimed at forecasting ship hull and propeller conditions. The model's accuracy was validated through a meticulous comparison of predictions with actual ship-hull and propeller conditions. Furthermore, we executed a comparative analysis juxtaposing predictive outcomes with navigational environmental factors encompassing wind speed, wave height, and ship loading conditions by the fuzzy clustering method. This research's significance lies in its pivotal role as a foundation for fostering a more intricate understanding of energy consumption within the realm of maritime transport.