Manoeuvring Study of a Container Ship in Shallow Water Waves

When approaching or leaving a port a ship often needs to perform manoeuvres in the presence of waves. At the same time the water depth is still limited for deep drafted vessels. For manoeuvring simulation purposes this requires a manoeuvring model which includes phenomena such as short crested waves and squat effects. The present paper addresses the manoeuvring problem in shallow water waves numerically and experimentally. The numerical study is conducted by means of potential theory, incorporating first and second order exciting wave forces, and their superposition to the calm water manoeuvring models. The applicability of such an approach is also investigated. The experimental work has been conducted at Flanders Hydraulics Research (in cooperation with Ghent University) with a scale model of an ultra large container vessel. Captive model tests comprise harmonic yaw tests and steady straight line tests with and without waves, at different forward speeds, wave frequencies and amplitudes, in head and following waves. Waves are chosen to represent conditions commonly met by ships in the Belgian coastal zone of the North Sea.