Navigation Characteristics Inversion Approach of Inland Waterways based on Ship Maneuvering Prediction: A Case Study for the Huaihe River

To evaluate whether the navigation characteristics of newly built or regulated inland waterways can meet the ship navigation requirements or not, a navigation characteristics inversion approach based on ship maneuverability prediction is proposed for inland waterways with different hydrologic conditions. Based on the MMG model, a three degree-of-freedom (DOF) ship maneuvering prediction model is established considering the effects of low-speed, shallow water and water flow influence. A composite index is designed to describe the waterway navigation characteristics, including the ship average speed, the TCPA and DCPA during ship encountering, the distance to the riverbank, etc. Navigation characteristics can be inversed with this index and a developed 3D simulation platform, where ships, waterways, navigational environment and other facilities can be generated. A segment of the Huaihe River is taken as the simulation scenario with a 2,000-t bulk carrier, the simulation results show that the inversion approach can effectively calculate the navigation characteristics.