Optimization of Maintenance Schedule for Containerships Sailing in the Adriatic Sea

Abstract

Biofouling attaches to immersed surfaces in between hull cleanings. Due to high speeds and relatively short port times, biofilm often attaches to the immersed surfaces of containerships. In most cases, this type of fouling is not given much importance since it is assumed that it will not cause any fouling penalties. In this paper, the fouling penalties related to fouling with biofilm on the example of the Post Panamax and Post Panamax Plus containership fleets sailing in the Adriatic Sea are assessed. In addition, the investigation is performed for real environmental conditions that a containership can encounter on a sailing route passing through the Adriatic Sea. Thus, the impact of waves and wind is taken into account based on mean values of significant wave height and wind speed for containerships sailing at the design speed along the analyzed route. The procedure for the determination of the detrimental effects of biofilm on the increase in fuel consumption and carbon dioxide emissions is given. Further, the proposed procedure includes the determination of calm water resistance by the Holtrop and Mennen method, the added resistance in waves by Liu and Papanikolaou’s method, spectral analysis using the Tabain’s spectrum for the Adriatic Sea, the wind resistance by the Blendermann method, and added resistance due to biofouling using the Granville method. Thereafter, a time-dependent biofouling growth model proposed by Uzun et al. is incorporated, and the adequate timing for underwater hull cleaning is determined for several hull cleaning costs. The obtained results demonstrate that, from an environmental point of view, proactive hull cleaning should be applied, while, from an economic perspective, optimal timing for underwater hull cleaning is recommended.

A Bi-Level Programming Approach to Optimize Ship Fouling Cleaning

“…Georgiev and Garbatov [25] performed conceptual multipurpose vessel design and fleet sizing considering hull form, resistance and propulsion, and other dimensions crucial to vessel design. Degiuli et al [26] optimized the maintenance schedule for containerships considering fouling penalties under real environmental conditions. While the literature has extensively examined the effects of fouling, cleaning methods, and cleaning schedules, there remains a gap in comprehensive research that simultaneously addresses the optimal locations and timing for ship cleaning, as well as the appropriate number of devices to be deployed.…”

Investigating the Comparison of Ship Resistance Components Between U and v-Shaped Hulls

“…Wang and Lutsey [3], as well as Molland et al [4], have described several methods to increase the efficiency of energy use on ships. These methods include weather routing [5], [6], speed reduction [7], [6], propeller [8], [9], and hull optimization [10], [11], bow modification [12], [13], [14], hull cleaning management or preventing biofouling [15], [16], [17], [18], [19], [20], trimming strategy [21], adding devices [22], [23], [24], [25], [26], using more advanced antifouling [27], [28], [29], and analyzing the coating roughness [30], [31], [32], [33], [34], etc.…”

CFD Analysis of the Influence of Marine Fouling on the Performance of High-Speed Planning Craft

“…As a result, reducing fuel usage is critical for ship industries. As a result, ship industries have endeavoured to discover the optimal hull design, operation and maintenance procedures in order to either reduce operational costs or raise the company's profit [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11].…”

“…Marine fouling, such as heavy slime, is caused by the settling and development of algae and invertebrates on the surfaces of submerged items, and it may cause a variety of significant and expensive economic difficulties [7,12,13]. One of the most well-known impacts of fouling is the reduction in the efficiency with which ships travel.…”