State-of-the-Art Ship Manoeuvring Simulation
Facility at CSIR Environmentek
A key component of the design of a new port, or the alteration of an existing port, is the establishment of an appropriate size and layout of the harbour area. A major consideration in the final port layout is the area required for safe manoeuvring of ships, while entering or leaving the port. The state-of-the-art technology in solving this design issue is to use computer-based ship manoeuvring simulators. Such mathematical models simulate the actual behaviour and bridge view of a ship in the water, under control of a helmsman, much like the flight simulators used in aeronautics.
CSIR Environmentek was made custodian of one such ship manoeuvring simulator, SimFlex, by the Port Authority Division (PAD) of Transnet. Simflex was developed by the Danish Maritime Institute, and is run on a personal computer, optionally together with a projector and screen. The simulator offers the helmsman and pilot a realistic view of the ship's bridge instrumentation and the outside environment, from the vantage point of the bridge (hence the name 'bridge-view' simulator).
The user has the option of digitally modelling an existing or planned port with great detail, including topography, structures and buildings. The user may choose from a variety of ships, or may sail a custom-made vessel. Various environmental conditions, such as wave action, winds, fog, day/night view, etc. can be modelled.
Simflex is already used successfully in assisting in the evaluation of the harbour layout of the new commercial port of Ngqura (Coega) near Port Elizabeth (Figure 3). This forms part of the overall maritime design for the port under leadership of Prestedge Retief Dresner Wijnberg Consultants.
CSIR Environmentek engineers collaborated with harbour pilots of the Port of Port Elizabeth in the testing programme, allowing them to navigate the design vessel into and out of the harbour, to evaluate the response of the ship to environmental conditions. Main issues addressed in this study were the influence of strong winds, currents and waves on ship manoeuvring and berthing, in relation to tug boat support.
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A key component of the design of a new port, or the alteration of an existing port, is the establishment of an appropriate size and layout of the harbour area. A major consideration in the final port layout is the area required for safe manoeuvring of ships, while entering or leaving the port. The state-of-the-art technology in solving this design issue is to use computer-based ship manoeuvring simulators. Such mathematical models simulate the actual behaviour and bridge view of a ship in the water, under control of a helmsman, much like the flight simulators used in aeronautics.
The user has the option of digitally modelling an existing or planned port with great detail, including topography, structures and buildings. The user may choose from a variety of ships, or may sail a custom-made vessel. Various environmental conditions, such as wave action, winds, fog, day/night view, etc. can be modelled.
CSIR Environmentek engineers collaborated with harbour pilots of the Port of Port Elizabeth in the testing programme, allowing them to navigate the design vessel into and out of the harbour, to evaluate the response of the ship to environmental conditions. Main issues addressed in this study were the influence of strong winds, currents and waves on ship manoeuvring and berthing, in relation to tug boat support.