SIMULATOR RESEARCH STUDY ON EMERGENCY SHIP MANOEUVER IN THE PORT OF COLOMBO, SRI LANKA

A Simulator Research Study was carried out to determine the best possible emergency ship manoeuvre on a Very Large Container vessel (passively escorted by a 70t BP1 Tug) with engine malfunction situation on entering the Colombo Harbour. This research study was done at the CINEC (Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College) Transas 4000 Full Mission Bridge & Engine Room Simulator at Malabe, SriLanka by an experienced team from 11th March 2013 to 16th March 2013.

Background: Ships arriving in the Port of Colombo, Sri Lanka have to come in with sufficient speed (approximately 6 knots) to make it in through the narrow breakwater entrance, especially during the heavy Southwest Monsoonal conditions. This situation may change once the construction of the new Colombo South Harbour (CSH) expansion project is completed. Upon entry the vessel needs to stop engines & then go astern to take all the way off in the basin before tugs can be engaged to assist in the berthing. With the ship sizes increasing this has become a difficult manoeuvre for the Shiphandlers to bring the vessel to a complete stop with the very limited space in the harbour basin. This is further aggravated by the vessels arriving in the maximum allowable drafts with minimum underkeel clearances where the stopping behavior is affected by the shallow water effects which sometimes become unpredictable.

Justification On a few occasions, ships have entered with speed & failed to go astern due to the capabilities and limitations of the engines. On such occasions, some vessels have managed to stop by using anchors, thus avoiding damage.
1

BP : Bollard Pull

The case of the container vessel Zim Pireaus 1998 : ,On entering through the breakwaters, the engines failed to respond to the astern engine order which resulted in the vessel colliding with the container feeder vessel Leerot berthed at Jaye ContainerTerminal( JCT) and ended up sinking, which resulted in a major disaster. This brought about new changes by the SriLanka Ports Authority(SLPA), with any vessel with an LOA2 of 200 metres and over entering Colombo Harbour to have a passive escort tug madefast astern.

LOA Length Over All

Aim of Study & Objective At the request of some Pilots we decided to carry out the following research. To determine the best possible manouvere on a Very Large Container Vessel (passively escorted by a 70t Bollard Pull Tug) with engine malfunction situation on entering the Colombo Harbour. (See Figure of Colombo Port bellow.)

i.e. Whether a vessel of this size could enter the Colombo Harbour & have an engine malfunction of not working astern as have happened previously with serious consequences, could still be maneuvered to bring the vessel to a complete stop safely or with minimum damage to own vessel, harbor, environment or to other vessels.

Methodology Ship model details used in this exercise: CONTAINER SHIP details: Loa Breadth Draft Displacement TEU capacity Bow thruster Rudder Anchor weight Anchor type Windlass brake Max pull 382m 54.2 m 15m (even keel) 188,280 13,100 26.2T x2/1900 Kw x2 Semi balanced 18.375 t HHP- Pool N Anchor 458.7 t 108.1 t

Escort Tug details: LOA Breadth Draft Displacement Bollard Pull Propulsion 42 m 15.3m 6.3 m 1060 t 70 t Voith 2 x 2938Kw High speed diesel

The above vessel approached the Colombo Harbour main entrance on a speed of about 6.6 knots with the engines on DS AH3. The Escort Tug was already madefast from the vessels center lead aft with a tug rope before entering the Breakwater. On the Bridge position transiting the Island breakwater lighthouse the engines were stopped & the vessel maneuvered only with the following available resources : Escort Tug Rudder Bow thrusters Anchors

to bring the vessel to a complete stop without causing any injury, damage to the environment, vessel or the Harbour structures.

Exercise 1 : With only use of Escort Tug & Rudder The vessel was brought to a complete stop abreast of JCT 3 in 3.2 ship-lengths equivalent to 6.6 cables. The relevant accompanying graphical displays can be found in Annex III.

Exercise 2 : With the use of Escort Tug, Rudder & Bow Thrusters The vessel was brought to a complete stop abreast of between JCT 3 and JCT 4 in 3.3 ship-lengths equivalent to 6.8 cables. The relevant accompanying graphical displays can be found in Annex III.

Exercise 3 : With the use of Escort Tug, Rudder & Anchors. The Port & Stbd Anchors were letgo (01Min 20 Sec. after the Bridge passing the Island breakwater entrance lighthouse ) underfoot & held onto one shackle on deck on the brake & allowed to dredge.
3

DS AH - Dead Slow Ahead

Relevant accompanying graphical displays can be found in Annex III including anchor cable brake stresses. The vessel was brought to a complete stop in the basin safely in 1.54 shiplengths equivalent to 3.2 Cables.

CONCLUSION It was found from this simulator study that the vessel could be safely brought to a complete stop within the confines of the Colombo Harbour without the engines going astern in all 3 scenarios. On completion a comparison was made of the stopping distances in each case. In exercise 1 only use of Escort tug & Rudder resulted in a shorter stopping distance than in exercise 2 without the use of Bowthrusters but with the least clearance to the JCT. In exercise 2 the use of the Bowthrusters gave better directional control but increased the stopping distance due to the forward vector component of the thrust. The shortest & safest stopping distance was achieved in exercise 3 with the use of both anchors. It was considered the ideal settling position to be aimed to be between JCT 4 & Bandaranaike Quay - BQ 2A even for a soft grounding if stopping earlier proves impossible. Simulator exercises of this nature, as is done at CINEC will give Shiphandlers (i.e. Masters & Pilots) greater confidence & be prepared for the unexpected emergency manouveres to be tried out. Limitations: For the purpose of this study the Colombo Harbour Basin depth was increased to 17m in order to achieve a UKC of 2m as the draft of the ship model was fixed. No current or wind was introduced in this study. The fidelity of this simulated exercise was considered to be 85%.

Annexes: Annex I Annex II Annex III Vessels Pilot Card Vessels wheelhouse Poster Accompanying Graphs

Annex I

Vessels Pilot Card

Annex II

Vessels wheelhouse Poster

Annex III

Accompanying Graphs

Graphs Plan view of vessels track in 1 minute position intervals ROT Bow and Stern Speed Rudder and RPM Linear Motion(Surge,Sway, Heave) Circular Motion(Yaw,Roll,Pitch) Tug Force Bow Thruster Percentage Anchor Forces

Exercise 01

Exercise 02

Exercise 03

Exercise 1:

Plan view of vessels track in 1 minute position intervals

ROT (Rate of Turn)

3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 0 -0.5 200 400 600 800 1000 1200

Degrees per minute

ROT

Time(s)

RPM and Rudder Angle

40

30

20

RPM and Rudder angle

10

0 0 -10 200 400 600 800 1000

RPM 1200 Rudder

-20

-30

-40

Time (s)

Bow and Stern Speed

0.2

0.1

Speed(kts)

0 -0.1

200

400

600

800

1000

1200 Bow Speed Stern Speed

-0.2

-0.3

-0.4

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of Freedom) Linear Motions

0.4 0.35 0.3

Meters and Knts

0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0 -0.05 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Surge(m) Surge velocity(kts) Sway(m) Sway Velocity(kts) Heave(m) Heave Velocity(kts)

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of Freedom) Circular

0.15 0.1 Yaw( Degrees) Yaw Velocity(Degrees per second) Roll (Degrees) Roll Velocity(Degrees per second) Pitch( Degrees) Pitch Velocity( Degrees per second)

Degrees and Deg per second

0.05 0 -0.05 -0.1 -0.15 -0.2 -0.25 -0.3 -0.35 -0.4 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Time(s)

Tug Force
10 0 0 -10 -20 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Tonnes

-30 Longitudinal Force -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 Transverse Force

Time(s)

Exercise 2:
Plan view of vessels track in 1 minute position intervals

ROT (Rate of Turn)

10

Degrees per minute

ROT

0 0 -2 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Time(s)

Bow and Stern Speed

1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2

Speed(kts)

0 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 -0.8 -1 -1.2 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Bow Speed Stern Speed

Time(s)

Rudder and RPM Graph

40 30 20 10 0 0 -10 -20 -30 -40 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Rudder RPM

Rudder angle in degrees

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of freedom) Linear motions

0.4 0.35 0.3

meters and kts

0.25 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0 -0.05 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Surge(m) Surge Velocity(knts) Sway(m) Sway Velocity(knts) Heave(m) Heave Velocity(knts)

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of Freedom) circular motions

0.2 0.1

Degrees and Degrees per second

0 0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Yaw(Degrees) Yaw Velocity(Deg per sec) Roll(Degrees) Roll Velocity(Deg per sec) Pitch(Degrees) Pitch velocity(Deg per sec)

Time(s)

Tug Forces
10 0 0 -10 -20 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Tonnes

-30 -40 -50 -60 -70 -80

Tug force(Longitudinal Dir)(in tonnes) Tug force(Transverse Dir)(in tonnes)

Time(s)

Bow Thruster power percentage

150

100

50

Power %

0 0 -50 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Bow Thruster power percentage

-100

-150

Time(s)

Exercise 3:
Plan view of vessels track in 1 minute position intervals

ROT (Rate of Turn)

6 5 4 3 2 1 0 0 -1 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 ROT

Degrees per minute

Time(s)

Bow and Stern speed

0.4 0.2

0 0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Speed(kts)

-0.2 Bow Speed -0.4 Stern Speed

-0.6

-0.8

-1

Time(s)

Rudder and RPM

40

Degrees and Revolutions per minute

30 20 10 0 0 -10 -20 -30 -40 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Rudder RPM

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of Freedom) Linear motion

0.4 0.35 0.3 0.25 Surge(m) 0.2 0.15 0.1 0.05 0 0 -0.05 -0.1 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 Surge Velocity(knts) Sway(m) Swaqy Velocity(knts) Heave(m) Heave Velocity(knts)

Meters and kts

Time(s)

6DoF (Degrees of Freedom) Circular Motion

0.6 0.4

Meters and Kts

0.2

Yaw(Degrees) Yaw Velocity(Deg per sec)

0 0 -0.2 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Roll(Degrees) Roll Velocity(Deg per sec) Pitch(Degrees) Pitch Velocity(Deg per sec)

-0.4

-0.6

Time (s)

Tug Force
10 0 0 -10 -20 100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Tonnes

-30 Tug Force(Longitudinal) -40 -50 -60 -70 -80 Tug Force(Transverse)

Time(s)

Anchor Forces
100 0 0 -100 -200 Anchor Port(Longitudinal force in tonnes) Anchor Port(Transverse force in tonnes) Anchor STBD (Longitudinal force in tonnes) Anchor STBD (Transverse force in tonnes) 200 400 600 800

Tonnes

-300 -400 -500 -600 -700

Time(s)

Team Members: Capt. Harindra Perera - FNI, FCILT. IMO trained ECDIS & Simulator Instructor, Principal Lecturer, Marine Simulation,CINEC Maritime Campus. Former UK River Humber VLS Pilot & Deputy Harbour Master/ Senior Pilot, SriLanka Ports Authority & Trainer of Pilots, with over 25years Piloting experience. Capt. Peshala Medagama - IMO Consultant, AFNI, CMILT IMO trained ECDIS & Simulator Instructor, HoD Department of Marine Simulation/ General Manager-Admin & Ops- CINEC Maritime Campus. Mr. Dhakshina Perera IMO trained ECDIS & Simulator Instructor, Lecturer CINEC Maritime Campus. Mr. Samadhi Chathuranga IMO trained ECDIS & Simulator Instructor, Lecturer CINEC Maritime Campus.