Voyage optimization for a Very Large Crude Carrier oil tanker: a regional voyage case study

In line with the ambition of ship-owners to preserve capital and reduce operational costs, the selection of an optimum, safe and secure route for an envisaged voyage has always been a challenge for ship-owners, masters, and engineers. Due to the many complexities and parameters that affect the selection of an optimal route, the topic has become very interesting to many researchers. Each of the parameters affecting the process of route selection has its own values and weights, and these values change depending on specific situations and objectives. This sensitivity to context increases the difficulty selecting the optimum route. In this research, the optimization of a tanker-sized VLCC voyage for predefined and different routes is addressed in order to identify the optimum route. To reduce the number of variable parameters, major values have been assigned to the ship profile and sea conditions. The time domain analysis and the solution of equations of motion are then performed. The proposed route is designed by using a Bezier curve, and this route is then optimized with the objective of decreasing fuel consumption using the Fletcher-Powell method. The resulting optimized route shows a 3.7% savings in fuel consumption.