Optimum tracking of ship routes (OTSR) involves pro-viding a vessel with a route recommendation prior tosailing and thereafter closely monitoring the progress of thevessel en route, and updating the master to ensure thevessel achieves either the earliest possible safe arrival orarrives safely at the required time. This service is also ofgreat use on coastal routes, by providing the master withadvance warning of heavy weather conditions which maybe encountered. Hence, ship routing is an essential pre-requisite for all navigators for planning their voyage in anypart of the world ocean. The complexities involved inOTSR demand multidisciplinary expertise such as waveforecasting, ship behavior in the seaway, navigation, pathoptimization, etc. In this study, the authors demonstrate theminimal time path for a tanker in transit to Mumbai portfrom Calcutta port sailing through the Bay of Bengal andArabian Sea. The state-of-the-art WAM wave model [1]isimplemented for establishing the wave climate over aregional grid system of the Indian Ocean. Rough weather issimulated, assimilating IRS-P4 [multifrequency scanningmicrowave radiometer (MSMR)] analyzed wind fields intothe wave model for the monsoon month of August 2000.The model predicted synoptic wave fields help in alertingthe ship in advance and simplify the navigator’s decisionregarding the optimum track to be navigated from depar-ture to destination in a known wave field. This brings out
Optimal ship tracking on a navigation route between two ports: a hydrodynamics approach (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/237047828_Optimal_ship_tracking_on_a_navigation_route_between_two_ports_a_hydrodynamics_approach [accessed May 5, 2016].