Advanced route optimization in ship navigation

It is expected that international sea transportation will continue to increase as the world population increases. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) requires preparation of ship navigation efficiency management plans, including improvement in ship cruising methods such as appropriate ship trajectory selection. Moreover, shipping companies pay careful attention to fuel consumption and environmental conservation, while striving to maintain navigation safety and punctual cargo arrival. Generally speaking, slow navigation results in energy savings, but takes longer. Ship speed is determined on the basis of such factors as customer transportation-time and cost requirements, ship officers' wages, insurance, port charges, and ship building costs. Operational methods in ship navigation are limited to output reduction and route selection. In this paper, we propose a newly developed weather routing optimization technology that monitors fuel consumption, considering on-going sea and weather condition variation, including wind, waves, and current.