Ship Routing Through Altimetry-Derived Ocean Currents

Mark R. McCord, Young-Kyun Lee and Hong Kam Lo
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Mark R. McCord: Civil & Environmental Engineering and Geodetic Sciences, The Ohio State University, 2070 Neil Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43210
Young-Kyun Lee: Center for Infrastructure Studies, Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, 1591-6, Kwanyang-Dong, Dongan-Ku, Anyang-Si, Kyunggi-Do, Korea, 431-712
Hong Kam Lo: Civil & Structural Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong

Transportation Science, 1999, vol. 33, issue 1, 49-67

Abstract: We investigate the potential of strategic ship routing through dynamic currents derived from satellite altimetry by simulating current patterns in a dynamic Gulf Stream region to reflect present and improved current estimation capabilities, using dynamic programming to determine approximately 3-day routes through the current patterns, and estimating relative fuel savings that would be obtained if a 16-knot ship followed these rather than great circle routes. When simulating the use of a modified hydrographic approach to derive directly-gridded current velocities from an orbiting altimeter, reflective of present capabilities, an average fuel savings of 2.5% is calculated over 486 simulated voyages. A 5.8% average fuel savings is calculated when the bias associated with the modified hydrographic estimation approach is eliminated but the spatial-temporal sampling limitation associated with satellite orbits remains. Eliminating both the bias and the sampling limitation, which could be achieved with a current nowcasting model, produces 11.1% average fuel savings. Error-free forecasts lead to only slight marginal improvements over error-free nowcasts. Analysis by route characteristics indicates that the contribution of strategic routing is much better on with-current voyages—when the ship is traveling in the general direction of the primary current flow—than on counter-current voyages. We conclude that beneficial strategic routing through altimetry-derived current patterns is feasible using present capabilities on with-current voyages, but that overall performance and applicability would be substantially improved with the development of a current nowcasting model.

Date: 1999
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