• Journal of Coastal Disaster Prevention
• /
• v.4 no.3
• /
• pp.133-137
• /
• 2017

The Arctic region remains surrounded by sea ice during most of the period of the year. In the Arctic Ocean the Northern Sea Route (NSR) has been used as an important route for shipping. The arctic sea ice is decreasing since 1979; hence needs to be monitored. In this research work sea ice concentration in the recent years and sea ice concentration anomalies of few months with long term sea ice concentration are studied. The climatology of long term ice concentration data from various satellites, and the recent sea ice concentration data from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) were used. The results show that sea ice concentration and sea ice extent in the Arctic region decreased by around 5% from 2015 to 2016, but in 2017 increased again in smaller amount in some areas like around Novaya Zemlya, and parts of the sea in between Greenland and Longyearbyen, and around Banks Island. The percentages of sea ice area in NSR for July 7 in 2015 to 2017 were 37%, 39% and 33%, respectively, indicating a large area (around ten thousand $km^2$) become ice free in 2017 compared to the previous year.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.44 no.3 s.153
• /
• pp.340-347
• /
• 2007

Main purpose of the study is to develop a transit model for icebreaking cargo vessels in the Northern Sea Route and to select optimum sea routes with the shortest navigation time and the lowest operation cost. This numerical model executed with basic information such as ship capabilities, transit directions and months of transit, can calculate total transit distance and elapsed time, mean speed, operation cost for each vessel. In the transit model. environment information such as the site-specific ice conditions, wave and wind states are utilized for four different months (April, June, August, and October) along the Northern Sea Route. The model also defines a necessary period of an icebreaker escort. Then the optimum sea routes are selected and visually displayed on the digital map using a commercial software ArcGIS. Usefulness of the selected sea routes is discussed.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.110-118
• /
• 2015

Weather routing method is one of the best practices of SEEMP (Ship Energy Efficiency Management Plan) for fuel-efficient operation of ship. KR is carrying out a basic research for development of the weather routing algorithm and making a monitoring system by FOC (Fuel Oil Consumption) analysis compared to the reference, which is the great circle route. The added resistances applied global sea/weather data can be calculated using ship data, and the results can be corrected to ship motions. The global sea/weather data such as significant wave height, ocean current and wind data can be used to calculate the added resistances. The reference route in a usual navigation is the great circle route, which is the shortest distance route. The global sea/weather data can be divided into grids, and the nearest grid data from a ship's position can be used to apply a ocean going vessel's sea conditions. Powell method is used as an optimized routing technique to minimize FOC considered sea/weather conditions, and FOC result can be compared with the great circle route result.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.210-226
• /
• 2013

Ever since the Arctic region has opened its mysterious passage to mankind, continuous attempts to take advantage of its fastest route across the region has been made. The Arctic region is still covered by thick ice and thus finding a feasible navigating route is essential for an economical voyage. To find the optimal route, it is necessary to establish an efficient transit model that enables us to simulate every possible route in advance. In this work, an enhanced algorithm to determine the optimal route in the Arctic region is introduced. A transit model based on the simulated sea ice and environmental data numerically modeled in the Arctic is developed. By integrating the simulated data into a transit model, further applications such as route simulation, cost estimation or hindcast can be easily performed. An interactive simulation system that determines the optimal Arctic route using the transit model is developed. The simulation of optimal routes is carried out and the validity of the results is discussed.

• Korean Journal of Computational Design and Engineering
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.71-78
• /
• 2012

Recently, the ratio of fuel cost to the operational cost of a ship is increasing according to the increase of the international oil price. Thus, many studies are being made to reduce the cost; for example, a method for acquiring the sea state information, a method for estimating fuel consumption, a method for determining the ship's optimal route, and so on. However, these studies were not incorporated together and being independently made in different fields. In this study, by improving and incorporating such studies, a method for determining a ship economic route based on the acquisition of the sea state and estimation of fuel consumption was proposed. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method, it was applied to an optimal routing problem of the ocean area including many islands. The result shows that the proposed method can yield the economic route minimizing fuel consumption.

• Journal of Advanced Marine Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.10
• /
• pp.1044-1048
• /
• 2015

Recently, the viability of the Northern Sea Route has been receiving a remarkable amount of attention. Owing to global warming, glaciers in the Arctic Ocean have been melting rapidly, which has opened up navigation routes for ships with commercial as well as research purposes. At present, vessels can be economically operated along the Northern Sea Route four months of the year. However, studies have shown that the economical operating time may increase to six months by 2020 and year-round by 2030. Even though the conditions of the Northern Sea Route are extreme, the main reason for its use is that the route is shorter than the existing route using the Suez Canal, which provides an economic benefit. In addition, 25% of the world's oil reserves and 30% of its natural gas are stored in the coastal areas of the East Siberian Arctic region. Many factors are leading to the expectation of commercial navigation using the Northern Sea Route in the near future. To satisfy future demand, the International Maritime Organization established the Polar Code in order to ensure navigation safety in polar waters; this is expected to enter into force on January 1, 2017. According to the code, a ship needs to reduce its speed and analyze the ice for safe operation before entering into it. It is necessary to enter an ice field at a right angle to break the ice safely and efficiently. This study examined the operation along the course for safe navigation of the passage under several conditions. The results will provide guidelines for traffic officers who will operate ships in the Arctic Ocean.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
• /
• v.5 no.2
• /
• pp.246-262
• /
• 2013

With increases in international oil prices, the proportion of fuel cost to the operational costs of a ship is currently increasing. To reduce fuel cost, a method for determining an economical route for a ship based on the acquisition of the sea state and the estimation of fuel consumption is proposed. The proposed method consists of three items. The first item is to acquire the sea state information in real time. The second item is to estimate the fuel consumption of a ship according to the sea state. The last item is to find an economical route for minimal fuel consumption based on the previous two items. To evaluate the applicability of the proposed method, it was applied to routing problems in various ocean areas. The result shows that the proposed method can yield economical ship routes that minimize fuel consumption. The results of this study can contribute to energy savings for environmentally friendly ships.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.677-686
• /
• 2014

Sea ice covers wide area in Terra Nova Bay in East Antarctica where the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station was built in 2014, which affects greatly on the sailing of an icebreaker research vessel. In this study, we analyzed the optimum sea route and sailable period of the icebreaker to visit the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station by using sea ice concentration data observed by passive microwave sensors such as Special Sensor Microwave/Imager (SSM/I) and Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) for the last decade, and by using sea route of the Araon, an icebreaker of Republic of Korea, from 2010 to 2012. It is found that Araon sailed in the route of sea ice concentration up to 78%. Sailing speed of the Araon decreased due to increasing sea ice concentration. However, Araon maintained the speed close to the average speed for the entire sailing period (~11 kn) in the route of sea ice concentration up to 70%. Therefore, we confirm that the Araon can sail typically in the route which shows sea ice concentration below 70%. We derived annually available sailing period in recent 10 years for the sea route of the Araon in 2010, 2011 and 2012, which is defined as the period showing sea ice concentration below 70% through the route. Maximum sailable period was analyzed to be 61 and 62 days for the route of the Araon in 2010 and 2011, respectively. However, the typical sailing in the routes was unavailable in some years because sea ice concentration was higher than 70% through the routes. Meanwhile, the sailable period for the routes of the Araon in 2012 was observed in every year, which was a minimum of 15 days and is a maximum of 89 days. Therefore, we could suggest that optimum route of icebreaker to visit the Jangbogo Antarctic Research Station is the route of the Araon in 2012. High resolution images from SAR or optical sensors are necessary to investigate sea ice condition near shoreline of Jangbogo research station due to several kilometers of low resolution of sea ice concentration.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
• /
• v.56 no.6
• /
• pp.480-487
• /
• 2019

Ship route planning is to find a route to minimize voyage time and/or fuel consumption in a given sea state. Unlike previous studies, this study proposes an optimization method for the route planning to avoid the grounding risk near the coast. The route waypoints were searched using A^* algorithm, and the route simplification was performed to remove redundant waypoints using Douglas-Peucker algorithm. The optimization was performed to minimize fuel consumption by setting the optimization design parameters to the engine rpm. The sea state factors such as wind, wave, and current are also considered for route planning. We propose the constraint to avoid ground risk by using under keel clearance obtained from electoronic navigational chart. The proposed method was applied to find the optimal route between Mokpo and Jeju. The result showed that the proposed method suggests the optimal route that minimizes fuel consumption.

• Proceedings of the Korea Committee for Ocean Resources and Engineering Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.167-173
• /
• 2002

For moving cargo between the North Pacific region and Northern European ports, the Northern Sea Route, along Russia's coastline, is 35-60% shorter than the traditionally used routes through the Suez and Panama Canals. In addition to its shorter distance, there exists and extensive ports and shipping infrastructure, and the potential for developing new markets in Russia and other northern countries including Korea and Japan. These incentives attracted considerable attention from the international shipping and shipbuilding industries and have formed a cooperative international research program, called as the International Northern Sea Route Programme (INSROP). This paper is a general compilation of the historical usage, recent trade developments, the physical environment, and the practical considerations that may shape future operational mode of shipping in the NSR based on results from INSROP reports. This study focuses mainly on an operation of commercial icebreaking vessels that may be utilized along the NSR.