The problem of assessing the navigation situation in the water area is investigated in the paper. An important aspect of this problem is the making of correct predictions of all vessels movement in the water area. The prediction of the trajectory of vessel movement can be made using the route of this vessel and its mathematical model. The parameters of the mathematical model of a particular ship and its maneuvering characteristics can be obtained from the database according to the parameters of the ship type and dimensions. But to build the correct trajectory of the vessel’s movement, it is necessary to know its route. If the vessel does not transmit its route by means of AIS system, then determining the route becomes a problem. In the absence of information about the vessel route, it is proposed to build it using indirect information. Based on the information about the water area from ECDIS, a navigation graph, representing all kinds of paths along which a vessel can move through this water area safely and legitimately, is built. Then, on the resulting graph for each specific vessel, a set of possible paths from its current position in the water area can be obtained. Each of the paths is assigned a weight (probability) of the ship movement along this path. In the future, these weights are recalculated and the paths with the maximum weight are used. In accordance with the proposed algorithm for each path, a route can be constructed as a sequence of waypoints. This route can be used to predict the trajectory of vessel movement in the water area. The approach proposed in the paper can be implemented in the system of ensuring the safety of navigation both on an unmanned vessel and in the vessel tracking management system.

A 4-DOF vessel motion model for dead reckoning purposes is developed. The model is based on a system of nonlinear equations of vessel motion in calm water derived for the S175 container ship. The model additionally contains wind and wave influences. Wind is assumed to be constant for the velocity and direction. Waves are modelled as wind waves and irregular and assumed to be long-crested. Their direction equals wind direction. Only second-order wave disturbances (wave drift) are taken into account. They are determined on the basis of coefficients calculated by means of hydrodynamic software for ideal fluid. The model is programmed in the Scilab. Parameters of turning ability are determined and compared then with normative values governed by the IMO. A symmetric property test is proposed to validate the adequacy of the model. This algorithm supposes that sequences of rudder deflection, initial heading and true wind direction values are initially formed. The true wind direction and initial heading values may be of the same or reciprocal direction, or create an angle of 90 degrees. Inserted cycles for the elements of the above sequences are carried out, and matrices of end-of-time coordinates for each maneuver are calculated. Some of the matrices are transformed, and symmetric property conditions are formulated in a matrix form. The influence of time step value on a model output is studied. The maximum value of the distance between appropriate points of the trajectories during a maneuver is a criterion of their difference.

The paper focuses on the understanding of informativity as a measure that determines the effectiveness of using the geophysical field to obtain a position fixing. The factology of map-aided navigation is revealed as a sequence of instantaneous comparison of navigation measurements with the standard of informativity of field stored in the memory of the on-board computer. Correlation-extreme navigation is synchronized with the parallel task of organizing an informative path as the best optimal trajectory of movement in three-dimensional space when following a marine mobile object in a given direction, taking into account restrictive obstacles. An explanation of the understanding of innovative navigation as a “binding” of measurements to a standard based on the search for the global extremum of the functional of correlational comparison of the measured fragment with the informativity of the geophysical field chart is given. The navigation process is interpreted into an extreme task of route planning as a tactical spline method of the roadmap in a conflict environment, taking into account the factor of avoiding navigational hazards. The assumption on developing the technology of correlation-extreme navigation using the methods of spline functions as a realization of the practical navigability of a perspective concept in the full scope of the progressive capabilities of an autonomous project is made. In the development of the idea of correlation-extreme navigation, a three-dimensional synthesis of a geophysical field fragment based on reproduced digital values from an isolines contour chart is implemented to create a hybrid B-spline approximation of a possible reference standard of informativity. The disadvantages of traditional methods of processing navigation information in the project of correlation-extreme navigation are analyzed. It is noted that the spline algorithm is mathematically devoid of the «curse of dimensionality» phenomenon as the main difficulty in achieving the speed of computational implementations of alternative methods of nonlinear filtering. The hypothesis of the possibility of using the proposed approach as a mathematical support for the future automated navigation system with artificial intelligence within the framework of the unmanned navigation concept in accordance with the e-Navigation project is put forward.

The ways to ensure the safety and effectiveness of stormy navigation of tankers in the form of “storm zigzags” are discussed in the paper. The proposed method of tanker navigation in a storm using “storm zigzags” can serve as one of the elements of restoring the sea transportation efficiency in overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 epidemic for maritime transport. Examples of calculation and justification of parameters of “storm zigzags 60-120 and 60-130” of tankers for lateral course angles of wind and waves are given on the basis of earlier publications of the authors of this study. It is shown that the use of “storm zigzags” avoids the danger of blind sailing in the form of resonance for various types of pitching, slamming, loss of stability in passing waves, including for emergency tankers. It is noted that at the same time, the speed of the vessel’s movement in the chosen direction of movement in storm conditions is maintained. The use of “storm zigzags” can be one of the most important conditions for maintaining the rhythm of sea tanker transportation also for other types of vessels in stormy conditions, as well as ensuring the efficiency and safety of sea transportation. A universal diagram of safe and effective maneuvering of tankers in a storm, which allows you to choose a safe and effective “storm zigzag” to maintain the speed of the vessel depending on the heading angle of wind and waves, is proposed. The ways of using and correcting the universal diagram of safe and effective maneuvering of tankers in a storm by performing “storm zigzags” are proposed. The methods of storm sailing using “storm zigzags” proposed in the paper, as well as in earlier publications of the authors of this study, make it possible to ensure the efficiency and safety of tankers maneuvering in storm conditions. The use of “storm zigzags” makes it possible to choose ocean routes and maneuvers that allow solving a complex task - at the same time to ensure the optimality of the transit path, safety conditions and maintain the speed of tankers movement in the chosen direction. The conclusions obtained in the paper coincide with the available data for determining the methods of storm navigation that ensure safety and speed storage during the vessels passage along a given path. The results of this work can be used to develop methods for ensuring safety, maintaining speed and running time when sailing in a storm, taking into account the characteristics of tankers and other types of vessels.

A formalized assessment of the constraint of the Northern Sea Route water area is developed in the paper. The connection of the research topic with the tasks of designing shipping routes in the waters of the Arctic seas, the choice of safe routes and the issues of ship management in narrows is established. The list of the main factors affecting the constraint of the Northern Sea Route includes shores, dangerous depths and isobaths, forbidden zones, areas with insufficient hydrographic knowledge of the bottom relief and dangerous ice formations. The formalization of the constraint index is carried out by methods developed in the theory of stochastic geometry. The concepts of geometric measure of water area constraint and indicator of water area constraint are introduced. The geometric measure of constraint is used as a characteristic of the water area and does not depend on the maneuverability properties of vessels. The constraint indicator takes into account the ratio of the water area properties and the maneuverability characteristics of vessels. It is proposed, along with the general indicators of the water area constraint, to use private indicators that allow separately taking into account the impact of potentially dangerous objects located on both sides of the projected route. The functional relationship of the geometric measure of the water area constraint with the distance to dangerous objects, with their geometric shape and size is established. The conditions under which the distance to dangerous objects can be used as a measure of constraint are formulated. The results of a comparative assessment of the water area constraint of the Vilkitsky Strait using generalized and partial indicators are presented. A comparative quantitative assessment of the constraint of three navigable zones of the strait is carried out. The regularities of changes in quantitative indicators of individual shipping routes and points on the route are investigated. Recommendations on the developed method use are given. The direction of further research has been determined.

Maneuvering of the main tainter gates of the upstream end of the Moscow Canal navigation locks is carried out by means of electromechanical drives. Many of them have been in operation for over 80 years. One of the main elements that limit the service life of drive mechanisms are gearwheels of open gears. The realization of their sudden failure can lead to a long interruption of shipping. The accumulated experience of operating and observing similar elements at other facilities has shown that the controlled parameters established in the regulatory documentation may not be enough to objectively assess their technical condition and determine the residual life. In particular, there are no requirements for checking these products for fatigue damage. To determine the possibility of such defects formation and the localization of areas where their occurrence is most likely, a comprehensive assessment of the stress-strain state is performed using the finite element method under design loading conditions, as a result of which global calculation models of the elements under study are obtained. It has been established that the calculated values of nominal stresses do not exceed the endurance limit of the material, with the exception of contact fatigue on the working surface of the gear teeth. At the same time, the possibility of fatigue cracks formation on the elements of the studied gearwheels due to the possible presence of technological stress concentrators in the form of casting defects is not excluded. The obtained cartograms of the stress state make it possible to establish the areas where the formation of fatigue cracks is most likely in the presence of technological defects on them. Taking into account the information received, recommendations are developed to prevent the implementation of sudden failures due to the uncontrolled development of the process of fatigue damage on the gearwheels of open gears at the stage of their operation.

The core of scientific methodology is determinism or a vision of connection among all natural, sociological and thinking events and processes. The findings of the modern time in the scope of natural sciences, such as thermodynamics, statistics, quantum mechanics, modern physics of microworld, cosmology and later in sociological sciences, though added some uncertainty and a limited indeterminism, but mostly served as a superstructure on the basement of determinism. The appearance of synergy has allowed methodologically to connect the predictable behavior (i. e. determined) of the systems on the levels of their consistent development with their metamorphoses (catastrophic and deep changes of their structures and features). This connection has appeared in the definition of place and limits of the possibilities of traditional mathematics, probability theory, theory of catastrophes, theory of behavior of dissipative structures and others. For a long time the findings, made in this fundamental science, have been left in the limits of its starting scientific scope - theoretical physics. Gradually it became clear that many results of synergy can be used in other problems, which makes it an interdisciplinary scientific approach, which explains the principals of creation and self-organization of models and structure of open unstable systems. However, the practical branches of human activity, such as economics and transport, have being used the traditional mathematics for the calculation and forecasts until the last time. At the same time, the monotonously growing complexity and scale of the world economical systems represents tendency to unexpected catastrophes and tectonic changes of the structure, which could not be calculated nor forecasted. These processes create an interest of the practical sciences to the synergy: the absence of the instruments that could describe the processes starts to be compensated by the qualitative possibilities to explain and forecast its development, that often become more important that knowledge of certain values. In this research an attempt to review the tendency of the global world transport system development from the view of modern science and explain the fluctuations that appear during the system evolution and do not lead to the paradigm change, and to identify the mechanisms of crises, catastrophes and change of system structure appearance is taken.

The impact of the internal sub-container technologies introduction on the transportation of bulk shipments deep into the Hinterland of the sea container terminal is analyzed in the paper. The characteristics of the internal container cargo distribution and the dynamics of its changes associated with the transfer of loading and unloading operations from the territory of the sea terminal to the rear zone are revealed. The influence of new means of combined shipments consolidation on the reduction of the terms of using heavy-duty containers in the Hinterland of the seaport is noted. The mechanism of organizing small shipments transportation in Hinterland is considered and its components are indicated. A simple correlation (regressive) model, which allows the entire production process under consideration to be reduced to a function in which the dependent variable is a relationship with one independent argument, is given. It is noted that the processes occurring in the system under consideration are random and further investigation of the behavior of the system itself requires a set of primary statistics. The task formulated in the study allows us to conclude that the introduction of new means of combined shipments consolidation can be reflected in significant fluctuations in container shipments and the time of using containers in the Hinterland zones. At the same time, such differences, due to the limited time of containers use in the period between ship calls and the insignificance of the delivered bulk shipments volume from the total container traffic (8-12 %), cannot have a significant impact on the rhythm of the container terminal and related types of transportation. For the purpose of separate accounting of containers movement with small shipments, simulation modeling methods, allowing us to obtain probability density distribution of containers being located in the processing zones, are recommended for use.

The object of the study is mechanical ship reverse gears, which are the components of diesel-diesel, diesel-gas turbine and gas turbine main power plants of ships and vessels with a transmitted power of up to 24,000 kW and a torque of up to 590 kN·m for civil, special and dual (multipurpose) use ships. As part of the work, analytical studies of domestic and international experience in the development and design of modern ship reverse gears, their units and components are carried out. Typical design solutions and kinematic diagrams of ship gears are considered. As layout solutions, sorting gearboxes with axles offset, angular gearboxes and coaxial gearboxes are distinguished. A review of the technical characteristics of gearboxes for commercial marine vessels of most international and domestic manufacturers is made. The existing design and technological solutions for gear blocks of gearboxes are considered depending on their power. With regard to the power range under consideration, solutions that provide both a change in the direction of propeller rotation, and the ability to turn off and connect one of the engines of the operating plant on the move of the ship due to the presence of special jaw-friction and hydrodynamic clutches are analyzed. In conclusion, a generalization is given and an assessment of options for promising predictive design and technological solutions for the design and production of ship reverse gears is made. The obtained results of the work are sufficient for the formation of the technical image of ship reverse gears of the future for the main power plants of ships, the synthesis of structural and technological solutions for their typical units, as well as for the synthesis of end-to-end design and production technology. The results of analytical studies allow us to conclude that ship gearboxes based on gearing will be used for at least 30 years as a device for converting the rotational speed and torque of the motion source.

The subject of this study is the analysis of the possibilities for further growth of the energy efficiency of marine power plants through the use of the fuel cells concept. It is noted that the increase in the efficiency of modern power plants using heat engines is constrained by the limitations imposed on their efficiency coefficient (efficiency) by Carnot’s theorem. Currently, the prospects for increasing the efficiency of piston engines, as the main sources of energy in marine power plants, are considered as practically exhausted. In this regard, an urgent task of improvement is the search for new technical solutions that do not fall under the mentioned restrictions, which, in particular, leads to the concept of fuel elements (TE). Fuel cell technologies, unlike heat engines, use the other ways of converting the latent energy of fuel and fundamentally allow us to reach a new level of energy efficiency with an increase in efficiency by 10 % or more. The main advantages and disadvantages of the main types of fuel and energy sources and the possibility of their use as the major sources of energy in shipbuilding are considered in the paper. The most promising types of fuel cells for marine use are identified, their investment attractiveness is determined. The special attention is paid to the problems of using and storing the main fuel for thermal power plants, which is hydrogen. On the basis of the developed technologies for the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the comparison of individual, most significant in operation properties of hydrogen with the properties of LNG is made. The potential risks arising from the use of hydrogen as the main fuel on ships are assessed. Based on the examples of the developed projects of power plants with fuel cells, conclusions about the prospects of using fuel cells in shipbuilding are made.

When designing marine mechanical systems, their reliability is calculated according to the technical conditions of its constituent elements with an estimated service life. As a rule, the estimated and actual operational terms do not coincide, for a number of reasons, including due to the peculiarities of the ship systems operation. Thus, forecasting the service life of new marine equipment, taking into account the impact of external cyclic loads and the marine corrosive environment, is a complex multipurpose task, for which it is necessary to consider all stages of the life cycle from design to the moment of termination of their operation. The operational stage of the life cycle of marine mechanical systems is considered in the paper. Such data will contribute to the refinement of reliability calculations and the development of regulations for maintenance, repair and instrumental diagnostics of ship equipment. Durability criteria, namely, service life, operating time, frequency of repairs are chosen as reliability indicators. Accidents on ships that occurred at sea and inland waterways are affected; the procedure for extending the service life during the classification survey in operation is reflected. During the actual operation of the vessel, industry design organizations participate in the inspection of the vessels technical condition to extend the terms of their safe operation, organize technical control and supervision. Repair, maintenance or replacement of ship equipment is carried out in accordance with the prescribed regulations or in case of an unforeseen failure. The implementation of technical monitoring can provide current information on the actual condition of ship mechanical systems, which can reduce the technical and economic costs of their maintenance. This line of research may be important for vessels of the Arctic navigation area, which are characterized by increased requirements for the vessels survivability.

The probabilistic-statistical description operates with the concepts and terms of probability theory and mathematical statistics, such as the mean value, variance or standard deviation, probability density, standard error. The purpose of the research is to build a mathematical model of random processes in automatic control systems. When modeling noise impacts, it is advisable to simulate noise as the normal white noise, which has a constant spectral density. The values of this spectral density can be obtained in practice from the spectrum of the random component of the control error and the complex transmission coefficients of the automatic control systems through the control and disturbance channels. As a result, the automatic control systems developer and the technologist are interested in the value of the root-mean-square control error. But to determine it, it is more convenient to use the spectral-temporal description of the automatic control systems. The peculiarity of noise (random processes) is that it is impossible to explicitly write down the dependence of their magnitude as a function of time, since the noise values change in different ways at each time interval. But you can specify some average values, named above, which give a fairly detailed idea of the noise as a whole. The noises often encountered in engineering practice are ergodic, such that the ensemble averaging coincides with the time averaging. Therefore, the statistical characteristics of such noises can be obtained by averaging their observed values over time.

The operation of capacitive electronic storage devices of high power density in the discharge mode through a booster voltage regulator is discussed in the paper. This technical solution is proposed as a separate DC voltage source, which allows it to be used in the autonomous systems that have an alternative way of generating energy. The various booster voltage stabilizers operation, the basis of which is transistor switches, is also analyzed. The features of a step-up voltage regulator operation and the shortcomings of various circuit solutions for stabilizing the output voltage on pulsed sources are determined. The element base of the proposed circuit solution is considered in detail and the physical relationship between the elements of the circuit is described. A technical solution for the joint operation of a capacitive power source of high power density through a switching voltage stabilizer is proposed. A mathematical model of a capacitive electric energy storage device and a step-up voltage regulator based on transistor switches has been developed. Based on the mathematical model, a simulation model of the proposed system was developed and studied in the MATLAB modeling environment. The characteristics of the output voltage dependence on the operating time, as well as the load current, are investigated. The positive effect of the source and the voltage stabilizer joint work on the active load is revealed. Recommendations on the use of such systems are given. Generalized conclusions concerning the conducted research are made.