633
1 INTRODUCTION
Issues related to work on waterways are part of the
group of main strategic goals in the context of the
development of seaports. Actions aimed at improving
access to seaports are currently a challenge that must
be met by seaports serving the largest vessels. The lack
of appropriate infrastructure strongly limits the
possibilities of further development (Krośnicka 2016,
Matczak 2017). Due to both the simultaneous increase
in the operational parameters of vessels and the
specialization in servicing vessels specific to a given
port (Ministerstwo Transportu, Budownictwa I
Gospodarki Morskiej 2013, United Nations
Publications, 2019), servicing them for many ports is
becoming more and more difficult. Therefore, the
selection of the appropriate variant of the designed
waterway is currently of interest to the maritime
administration, port authorities and future port users
as an investment necessary to ensure the safety of these
vessels and further development of the port (Formela
2013, Formela 2015, Gucma 2001, Gucma 2015).
2 DESCRIPTION OF THE METHOD
The proposed methodology (Formela 2020) of multi-
level, multi-criteria evaluation of the designed variants
of waterways is based on the general methodology of
solving multi-criteria decision-making problems (Żak
2005). As a result of the use of a multi-level
methodology, multi-criteria assessment of
variants/projects, a summary of waterway projects is
obtained. This list presents the considered projects in
order from the project that has the best impact (has the
highest utility) on navigational safety, to the project
that has the least impact on achieving the goal. Figure
1 presents a general procedure for assessing decision-
making options under the proposed methodology.
Application of the Multi-criteria Navigational Safety
Assessment Method for the Proposed Variants of the
Designed Waterway
K. Formela
Gdynia Maritime University, Gdynia, Poland
ABSTRACT: The article presents an exemplary application of the multi-criteria navigational safety assessment
method for the proposed variants of the designed waterway in order to verify it. This method comprehensively
considers the most important environmental and technical aspects related to the implementation of the planned
investment. The method can be used for the purposes of navigational analysis, i.e. an engineering document that
meets the requirements of the regulation of the competent, which subject to agreement with the Director of the
territorially competent Maritime Office.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 16
Number 4
December 2022
DOI: 10.12716/1001.16.04.04
634
Figure 1. Scheme of procedure for the assessment of various
variants of waterways in terms of multiple criteria (Formela
2020).
3 MATERIALS FOR METHOD IMPLEMENTATION
The developed method is universal and can be used for
various types of waterway construction and
modernization projects. The implemented projects
may have a different degree of complexity. From
simple works, such as widening a short section of a
straight waterway, to more complex ones, such as
building new ports (D’Angremond 1998, Dhillon 2011).
The selection of the right criteria, their proper ordering
into groups, the determination of the input table of
solutions, and finally the choice of a multi-criteria
method for solving the problem (comparison of
variants) makes it possible to present the results of the
research carried out in a relatively quick and, above all,
transparent way and to make the right decision at the
initial stage of work planning.
In order to comprehensively present the
possibilities of the developed method, one of the many
projects of building new waterways on the water
reservoirs of the Republic of Poland implemented at
that time was used. This allowed to compare the
obtained results (selection of the development variant)
with the developed method with the previously
implemented project. Due to the two different
geometric layouts of the breakwaters, the schemes of
the waterway development variants have been divided
into two groups: basic (W1, W2 and W3) and
alternative (W4, W5 and W6).
3.1 Simulator and simulation areas
The following devices and software from TRANSAS
(now Warstila) were used to perform the
measurements: navigation and maneuvering simulator
NaviTrainer 5000 Professional, ECDIS simulator
NaviSailor 4000 as well as Model Wizard and Virtual
Shipyard applications.
Using the Transas Model Wizard application
(Transas 2015), six dedicated simulation areas were
prepared, based on the following source data: paper
navigational charts, ENC maps, navigation aids and
publications and materials provided by the investor.
The process of building the measuring basin in the
software used was divided into the following stages:
1. Selection and import of partial data;
2. Implementation of data into the simulation
environment;
3. Data processing;
4. Compilation of layers;
5. Importing the obtained output file to the simulator
environment.
On the designed areas, it was possible to simulate
various hydro meteorological conditions, such as:
wind speed and direction, as well as the type and
parameters of waves. Depending on the research
scenario, various values of weather factors were
defined. The selection of the model used in the research
was based on the guidelines of the Research Team and
the Investor. The above assumptions were compared
with the parameters of all models of units from the
simulator data base.
3.2 Hydro meteorological conditions
Hydro meteorological conditions in the area, including
wave and wind parameters, which are the main
environmental factor affecting the course of port
maneuvers, were designed in accordance with the
following assumptions:
1. Only the occurrence of a wind wave was considered
in each of the analyzed cases;
2. The wind force was analyzed for representative
wind speeds, determined on the basis of predefined
values from the navigation and maneuvering
simulator (Transas 2015) in the range of 2, 4 and 6
on the Beaufort scale (1.6, 5.5 and 10.8 m/s);
3. Parameters of waves in the foreground of the
planned development were simulated in
accordance with the other studies (Szmytkiewicz
2017);
4. The wave-cut function built into the software
(Transas 2015) was used to take into account wave
distributions in the simulation environment and to
set different wave heights in the measurement
basin. This tool allows you to extinguish the wave
by changing its height in a percentage in a given
area.
Figure 2. Wave distribution applied to the simulation basin
by using wave-cut function
3.3 Development and selection of navigation safety
criteria
The procedure of simulation tests used in the design
and selection of sea waterways is carried out in the
following order (BÄ…k 2021):