Use of Simulation for Optimizing Manoeuvres in Constantza Port

Constantza Maritime University had won a two year research grant, financed by the Romanian Government through the National University Research Council, for optimization of the Constantza port fairway and assessment of maneuvering procedures for handling of very large ships. The actual port fairway could not ensure safe navigation for ships with a draught greater than 13 meters, and also in the container terminal area, the actual maximum depth is 11meters. In a port without tide, the unique solution is to deepen and enlarge the existing fairway. The aim of our paper is to present the working hypothesis and methodology, which we used for creating the ship handling simulator maneuvering scenarios for very large ships. Validation and assessment of these scenarios, in order to establish the optimum shape and dimensions of the redrawn fairway, were done in cooperation with Constantza port pilots and VTS operators.