The review study focuses on piloting vessels on inland waterways that presents persistent challenges due to the influence of variable external factors on vessel passage. Under such conditions, a navigator must possess a clear understanding of the vessel's present state and anticipate its behavior over a predictive time horizon. Therefore, expertise in ship handling is critically important not only for navigating particularly challenging routes but also for routes where extremely low water levels necessitate a reduction in the ship’s maximum draught and require minimal ship speed. Routes affected by low water levels, which require a reduction of the permitted draught, are considered limiting routes. These routes, due to their length, can include sections that are difficult to navigate. Extremely low water levels, coupled with unpredictable currents and winds, can amplify the influence of external factors on a vessel. A navigator's thorough assessment of prevailing navigation conditions influenced by external factors is paramount for ensuring the navigational safety of the voyage. A potentially transformative approach to enhance navigational safety is the use of 3D electronic navigational charts (ENCs). Successfully performing essential navigation duties on limiting inland waterways requires proper assessment of modern methods of electronic chart use, and potentially modifying existing methods to perform specific navigation tasks in new ways.

An analysis of the impact of water from streams and reservoirs on the banks of reservoirs and soil massifs of artificial embankments – dams, dikes, and embankments – was carried out. It has been determined that the main factor influencing the condition of banks and embankment soils is their saturation with water and the formation of filtration flows in soil massifs, sometimes with quite significant gradients. The main processes that determine the state of structures are the processes of loosening and liquefaction of soils and their subsequent consolidation. The processing of reservoir banks continues for periods of 5 to 10 years, while bank stabilization takes much longer – up to 30 years, and in some conditions does not stop at all. The processing of banks causes pollution of water bodies with both mineral particles and wood pulp. The nature of the locations of the reservoirs of power hydroelectric power plants and the measures taken to prepare the reservoir beds for flooding have led to the presence of a significant amount of floating wood in the reservoirs. It is noted that changes in soil properties, in particular, their bearing capacity, when saturated with water lead to non-design settlements of structures that are erected on such soils. Several examples of compaction of foundations of hydraulic structures by the flooding method are considered. Laboratory studies of the deformation of a soil embankment during the filling of a reservoir of the upper pool are described, the natural object for which was the earth dam of the Beloporozhskaya small hydroelectric power station. Filling of the upper pool of the laboratory installation led to deformation of the embankment and its breakthrough. As a result, the embankment structure settled, its soil compacted, and the backfill density increased from 0.801 g/cm³ to 1.830 g/cm³. It has been established that when an embankment is flooded, soil particles experience the action of several forces: their own weight, forces of mutual friction, buoyant Archimedes forces, and forces of hydrodynamic pressure. Under the action of the resultant of these forces, soil particles are rearranged into a denser packing, which increases the strength of the soil and its ability to withstand loads. It is recommended to use the flooding method to improve the properties of soils of embankments and foundations of hydraulic structures.

This study analyzes the structure of bedforms that develop within dredged navigation cuts. Numerous observations of channel bed transformation indicate that immediately following sediment excavation, bedforms begin to emerge on the cut bottom, with crest elevations exceeding the designed cut depth. It is concluded that the formation of bedform relief leads to a reduction in navigable channel depth. Observations of channel relief structure in lowland navigable rivers, documented in the authors' previous studies, reveal that the bottom relief consists of dunes and underlying waves, the heights of which are comparable to those of the dunes. Consequently, their formation further contributes to a decrease in the guaranteed depth within the cut. These losses are most significant in areas of extensive dredging where the cuts are long. The aim of this research is to investigate the structure of bottom relief formed under various conditions in a 50-meter hydraulic flume. A comparative analysis of dune parameters showed that the relative height of dunes within the cut is half that of dunes observed in the same areas prior to dredging. Simultaneously, second-order waves were located beneath the dunes, with third-order waves below them. The heights of these waves were similar to those of the dunes. Based on these findings, it is concluded that the design of dredging operations should account for the impact of dunes and waves in the channel relief, which can lead to a reduction in navigable depth. However, it should also be noted that the size of dunes and waves within the dredged cut will be smaller compared to those formed under natural conditions.

Currently, dynamic positioning and low-speed maneuvering systems are increasingly in demand and necessary for safe maritime activities. Dynamic positioning systems are widely used mainly in the oil and gas industry, but also in supply vessels, barges and drilling rigs, ocean liners, and cargo ships. The development and analysis of control systems for the effective operation of a ship's control system with dynamic positioning requires the use of a mathematical model of the vessel, on the basis of which a study of synthesized control systems is carried out. The article proposes a general structure for modeling the control system for a vessel with dynamic positioning. The control system is represented by a set of a control object (in our case, a marine vessel), a command input device, a control device (controller), and an information and measuring system. The article considers a mathematical model of plane-parallel motion of a vessel, describing the movement of a vessel in three generalized coordinates: surge, sway, and yaw. As an example, two types of vessels with different propulsion systems are considered: a vessel equipped with two aft azimuth thrusters and a bow tunnel thruster, and a similar vessel, but equipped with a bow azimuth thruster. The forces generated by the propulsion devices of ships are determined through the connection with generalized forces and moments via the thrust allocation matrix for the corresponding kinematic scheme. The given propulsion schemes provide the possibility of holding the vessel in dynamic positioning mode. The description of mathematical models is presented in the form of vector-matrix nonlinear differential equations. The mathematical apparatus used to represent mathematical models of ships allows the use of models for the synthesis and modeling of control systems. The structure of the software implementation of the control system, developed in the Matlab environment, a description of the developed modules, and simulation results are presented.

This article aims to assess wind regime variations in the Russian seas and identify shipping and fishing areas where the frequency of dangerous winds showed statistically significant upward trends. The assessment is based on ERA-5 global atmospheric reanalysis data on hourly mean wind velocity from 1991–2020. The methodology employed standard statistical methods for data processing. The results of the assessment of increased storm risks across all Russian seas are summarized in a table. The study confirms that the wind regime in the Russian seas is non-stationary and responds to global climate variations. The most dynamic changes in wind conditions occur in the open seas (Bering, Barents), which have free exchange with external seas and oceans. The greatest risks to shipping and fishing, associated with an increased frequency of dangerous winds given medium or high climatic norms for this indicator, were identified in the following areas: the northeastern part of the Black Sea, including approaches to the ports of Novorossiysk, Tuapse, and the Kerch Strait area (winter season); the Baltic Sea, including shipping lanes in its central part and the Gulf of Finland (winter season); the Barents Sea (winterspring season); the southwestern part of the Bering Sea, including sections of transoceanic routes (winter season); and the northwestern sector of the Pacific Ocean, including sections of shipping lanes and fishing areas off the eastern coasts of Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands (winter-spring season). It is noted that ship crews and shipping company personnel should account for the increasing storm risks when planning navigation in these areas (especially those with harsh climates) and take measures to minimize them, including considering alternative routes. Emphasis is placed on the critical importance of the quality of training of ship crews for navigation in storm conditions, icing, steering failure, and assisting vessels in distress.

The article reviews the development of requirements for vessels operating on inland waterways. The key points in the formation of the regulatory framework of the Russian Classification Society in terms of ensuring the safe operation of river vessels, taking into account the specifics of external loads on the hull of the vessel, are considered. The methods and approaches that became the basis of the existing Rules were formed in the 60-70s of the 20th century after the appearance of water reservoirs, the conditions of navigation in which differed significantly from river navigation. The next stage of development was the appearance of mixed (river-sea) navigation vessels based on river vessels operating in large lakes and reservoirs of inland waterways. By the end of the 1970s, mixed navigation vessels became a separate group, for which the requirements of normative documents for the safety of operation differed significantly from those for river vessels. First of all, this concerned the seaworthiness characteristics (stability, strength, freeboard) of the vessel's hull and its equipment, supplies, and devices. At the beginning of the 21st century, a study was carried out on the possibility of operating inland navigation vessels in coastal sea areas and in wind-wave protected areas with a maritime regime of navigation. The results have been applied in the Russian Classification Society's Regulations for roadstead and harbor navigation vessels (Guideline R.015-2006). The article analyses and confirms the necessity to develop a similar algorithm allowing assigning permissible operational restrictions for vessels whose class is lower than the basin class. The conditions for ensuring the safety of vessel operation should be assigned based on adjusted approaches that take into account the specifics of forecasting wind-wave parameters of water areas on inland waterways.

This study focuses on assessing the potential for optimizing the utilization of the hinterland transport network when organizing the dispatch of combined cargo shipments from a seaport. The complexity of this task stems from the need to implement innovative methods to enlarge bulk shipments to facilitate their inland transportation using containerization. This approach promotes the development of new transportation routes and necessitates the evaluation of the transport characteristics of the shipping process. Modeling the transport network requires a comprehensive evaluation of factors, as well as economic and operational indicators that characterize the movement of cargo between origin points (sea container terminals) and destination points (consignee warehouses). This paper reviews existing models for assessing transport network utilization and provides a brief overview of each. In evaluating ongoing processes, it is emphasized that each specific origin-destination pair (sea container terminal to consignee warehouse) can be represented not only in terms of volume but also as a function of time. The possibility of developing a dynamic model based on various methods of unitizing cargo and evaluating the network's transport capabilities is also highlighted. The study concludes that, when addressing the problem of distributing flows across the transport network, considering different methods of organizing cargo units, and accounting for constraints on route capacity, time, or transportation costs, a projection method can be applied to identify the optimal transportation solution from a range of feasible options.

A method for determining vessel latitude based on depth using a neural network is proposed. The network takes as input a sequence of depth values measured by a single-beam echo sounder and predicts the vessel's latitude at the moment of the latest depth measurement. The network has two layers. The first layer contains neurons with hyperbolic tangent activation functions. The second layer consists of a single neuron with an identical activation function. The training dataset consists of training and validation sets. The training set is formed based on a depth layer contained within an electronic navigational chart (ENC). The validation set is formed by pseudorandom variations of input samples from the training set. Each of these variations corresponds to a constant sea level variation due to measurement errors and/or fluctuations of wind and/or tidal nature. The network is trained using the Adamax optimization algorithm. The maximum absolute value of latitude prediction error for the validation set is used as a criterion for training efficiency. After training, the network is tested using test samples obtained in the same manner as for the validation set. The simulation is conducted using the Python programming language. The TensorFlow library is used for training and operating the neural network. The simulation is conducted for several network configurations, each differing in the number of hidden neurons. As a result, it has been found that the networks show a tendency to learn how to predict vessel latitude using depth values as input data. This fact allows them to be considered as promising tools for bathymetric navigation.

The research focuses on the development of a control system for an autonomous vessel using the Robot Operating System 2 (ROS2). Autonomous vessels are highlighted as a promising class of robotic systems designed for various tasks in the maritime environment, including area monitoring, scientific research, search and rescue, and transport operations. Their key advantages lie in their autonomy, operational flexibility, and ability to operate in conditions hazardous to humans. The study explores the use of the modern Robot Operating System 2 for robotics, which ensures modularity, scalability, and a high degree of distributed computing. This software provides ready-made algorithms for navigation, sensor data processing, and motion control, as well as tools for testing, debugging, and data visualization, thereby accelerating development and enhancing system reliability. As part of the research, a structural diagram of the autonomous vessel control system was developed, incorporating subsystems for navigation, computer vision, motion control, and operator interaction via a shore-based console, illustrating the composition and interaction of individual operating system nodes. A device diagram is presented, showing the distribution of computing resources between the nodes. The proposed control system demonstrates the possibility of integrating various autonomous vessel subsystems into a unified system based on the common interaction logic and data exchange of the Robot Operating System 2. The application of this operating system enhances development speed, improves software reliability, simplifies the integration of complex algorithms, and ensures system flexibility for future improvements.

The wettability of materials used for manufacturing water-lubricated stern-tube bearings — polyamide and rubber 8130 as well as materials used for propeller shaft journal linings — stainless steel 12Ch18N10T and tin bronze BrO5Ts5S5 — was investigated. Wettability was evaluated by measuring the contact angle. Based on the experimental results, second-order models were developed to describe the contact angle as a function of water salinity and arithmetic mean deviation of the profile. A similar influence of the investigated factors on the wettability of bronze and stainless steel was revealed, which, for polymers, not only differs significantly from that of metallic alloys, but also the change in wettability of polyamide differs from that of rubber with a change in these factors. It is noted that the salt content in seawater has a weak influence on the wettability of lining materials, but the surface roughness has a noticeable influence on it; moreover, there is a value of the height parameter Ra at which the wettability reaches a maximum value. For rubber, on the contrary, the surface roughness has a weak influence on the wettability by water, but the salt content in water has a very strong influence on it (in fresh water, rubber exhibits pronounced hydrophilic properties, while in seawater it becomes hydrophobic). The hydrophilicity of polyamide shows a moderate increase both with an increase in the salt content in water and with an increase in the roughness of its surface. It is proposed to use a hydrophilic material for the bearing in a stern-tube tribopair lubricated with water, in combination with a pronounced hydrophobic material for the lining; accordingly, in seawater, it is advisable to use polyamide bearings instead of rubber-metal bearings. Based on the results obtained, it seems reasonable to conduct research on replacing bronze and stainless steel in the manufacture of linings with other materials exhibiting pronounced hydrophobic properties.

The use of catamarans can be an effective solution for organizing mass passenger transportation on waterways. At the same time, there is a need to improve shipbuilding technology. The use of simplified hulls can be successfully employed to optimize the production process and significantly reduce construction costs. This article provides an analysis of existing studies on the resistance of vessels with simplified hull forms. It is shown that, in most cases, simplification of the hull form leads to an increase in towing resistance of up to 30%. The article presents the results of a model experiment conducted in the towing tank of the Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping. The model, with a single hull length of 2000 mm and a beam of 148 mm, was tested in calm water at three different drafts (60 mm, 80 mm, and 100 mm) and at speeds ranging from 1 m/s to 4 m/s, corresponding to Froude numbers between 0.22 and 0.90. The paper plots the towing resistance curves for the catamaran with simplified hull forms and presents the results of an experimental study of the effect of trim and draft on the towing resistance. The dependences of the residual resistance coefficient on the Froude number are examined. The data obtained during the experiment are compared with published results of propulsive performance studies of catamarans with similar principal particulars. The study provides evidence that simplifying the hull forms of high-speed multi-hull vessels negatively impacts towing resistance. It is concluded that the results obtained can be used in the design of vessels with simplified hull forms.

The subject of this study is the equipment of the marine power plant of autonomous vessels. The degree of readiness of a modern marine power plant for use on autonomous vessels is considered from the point of view of its high degree of reliability. The paper demonstrates the capabilities of the method for constructing a table of operational risk indices and a redundancy risk index using the example of an average vessel intended for coastal shipping in European waters. Based on the presented sample of power plant elements, the operational risk index and the redundancy risk index for the marine equipment are analyzed, and an analysis of the reasons for their importance is given. The main engine and its elements, torque transmission mechanism, auxiliary engines and generator sets, fuel, lubrication, cooling water supply systems, and the air starting system are discussed as examples. In addition, the steering gear and the exhaust system are considered, and the redundancy risk indices (RRRI) are given for the selected equipment. After identifying the weak links of the considered installations, solutions for overcoming the risks that arise are proposed. It is noted that these solutions depend directly on the weak link and may consist of several options. Examples include redundant tuning, searching for alternative ship machinery elements with a lower risk index, or considering actions that allow a certain part to be fully operational. The paper attempts to find a solution for each element of the sample with a highrisk level (RRRI equal to 8, 9, or 10) when components are considered for improving reliability. Components with an average RRRI value of 6 or 7 are also considered. In this case, the implementation of alternative methods for forming a propulsion complex, for example, based on the known principles of electric propulsion, is noted as highly attractive as a way to overcome a large number of problems. It is concluded that no solutions are possible without a comprehensive analysis of financial viability. The conclusions drawn from the results reflect the possible direction of work on the creation of a marine power plant for equipping autonomous vessels.

The relevance of this work stems from the increasing importance of the Northern Sea Route as a strategic artery for commercial shipping, particularly concerning the execution of fuel and energy projects in the Arctic. Since 2022, the reduced participation of foreign companies in these projects has highlighted the necessity of developing domestic key equipment for shipbuilding. This article assesses the prospects for developing and implementing propulsion systems for liquefied natural gas tankers in the Russian Federation. The aim is to identify the essential components of propulsion systems that must be created to successfully realize the construction of Arc7 ice-class gas carriers. To determine viable options for these power plants, a review of existing propulsion systems used on similar LNG carriers is conducted, suitable main engine types for implementation are considered, and potential analogues for the propulsion and steering system are examined separately. Finally, an assessment is made of their positive and negative characteristics, such as efficiency, maneuverability, and implementation prospects. The article also preliminarily identifies enterprises within the Russian Federation that could serve as potential suppliers of key equipment for newly developed marine power plants, many of which are already engaged in Arctic energy resource extraction and export projects.