An Experimental Study on Seakeeping Characteristics of a Fast Wave-Piercing Catamaran in Real Seas

Abstract

SummaryA wave-piercing catamaran was developed in Australia, and has been increasing in size for these twenty years. The first largest wave -piercing car ferry, "Natchan Rera" was built in Australia and introduced in the Hokkaido-Aomori route in September 2007. The seakeeping performance of this ship has been investigated by model experiments and revealed the superiority compared with conventional mono-hull ship. However, the seakeeping performance in real sea where irregular and combined waves are outstanding has not been revealed yet. In the present study, measurements of motions using real ship during winter season were carried out. From measured motion data, seakeeping performance of this ship in real seas is revealed. From comparison of measured motions between real ship with a ride control system and its scale model without it, the effectiveness of the ride control system is also discussed.