In today’s fast-paced maritime industry, optimizing routes and ensuring efficient navigation is more critical than ever. The MariGeoRoute Weather Routing Tool (WRT) is an innovative open-source routing solution initially developed in the research project MariData. With its advanced capabilities there is great potential for further development and application in real-world scenarios. In this blog post, we’ll explore how it works, its benefits and provide a practical example of planning a route. Let’s dive in!

Setting Sail with the MariGeoRoute WRT

Imagine you’re the fleet manager of a global shipping company. Your task is to ensure that your vessels take the most efficient routes, saving time and fuel while ensuring safety. This is where the MariGeoRoute WRT comes into play.

Key Features of the MariGeoRoute WRT

MariGeoRoute leverages ocean environmental data, weather data and advanced routing algorithms to provide optimal routing solutions. Here’s a breakdown of its key features:

1. Data Integration: MariGeoRoute integrates forecasts of atmospheric and oceanic data (from MariDataDownloader) and static data of bathymetry and nautical charts to predict the best possible routes.
2. Route Planning: The platform provides multiple routing algorithms and variables, including the amount of fuel per routing step, departure time, vessel speed, and accommodates a wide range of constraints and considerations ensuring safe navigation.
3. Ship Power Prediction: For the MariData project, industry-standard power estimation models based on complex simulations of resistances like calm water resistance, added resistance in waves, and added resistance in wind were developed for a set of vessels. These models are not public, however, the tool provides a Python API to easily integrate your own models for power prediction.
4. Constraints: The WRT provides a constraints framework ensuring not only an energy-efficient but also a safe journey by avoiding, e.g., restricted areas. Moreover, it is possible to set specific waypoints the route has to follow providing a better control over the solution space.

Planning a Route in the Mediterranean Sea

Let’s walk through an example of planning a route using the MariGeoRoute WRT. Suppose now you need to navigate from Marsala in Sicily to Beirut in Lebanon.

1. Input Your Journey Details: Start by entering the departure coordinates (Marsala), the destination coordinates (Beirut) and the departure time into MariGeoRoute.
2. Set Recommended Configuration Variables: Define recommended variables related to vessel speed, draught information and hull fouling.
3. Set Optional Configuration Variables: Define variables related to algorithm type, surrogate models, amount of fuel per routing step, time resolution of the weather forecast,  and any specific constraints such as sailing through waypoints, not crossing water levels below the specified water depth, or not crossing a restricted area.
4. Analyze Routes: MariGeoRoute processes the given configuration and suggests the best possible route or routes according to the given individual routing algorithm or hybrid algorithms. Our platform delivers a GeoJSON file containing information about each routing step such as coordinates, estimated time of arrival, vessel speed, engine power, fuel consumption and propeller revolutions for each suggested route. Choose the optimal route with the MariGeoRoute WRT and navigate through calmer waters faster, ensuring vessel safety.

Our studies showed that for the same origin and destination, MariGeoRoute WRT suggested the route to reach the destination with 8.7% less fuel consumption than an existing trip completed by an ocean-going vessel.

How It Works Internally

Behind the scenes, the MariGeoRoute WRT uses a blend of routing algorithms and customizable power estimation models to improve future route suggestions. It factors in:

• Isofuel Algorithm: The routing process is broken down into individual routing steps to achieve fuel-optimized routes. For each routing step, the vessel’s travel distance is calculated for different directions with a fixed amount of fuel and constant speed with respect to the relevant ocean environment and atmospheric data. The routes are grouped according to their courses, and only the route segment that maximizes the travel distance in each group is selected for the next routing step, as shown in Figure 3. Using this technique, we systematically scan a wide angular range for optimal routes.

• Genetic Algorithm: Our platform supports the Genetic Algorithm to run individually or based on the routes generated by the Isofuel Algorithm. Our routing problem of the Genetic Algorithm is designed to minimize the fuel consumption of the ship routes and it provides efficient and optimal routes utilizing the customized phases of initial population, selection, crossover and mutation of the general Genetic Algorithm.
• Customizable ship power estimation: MariGeoRoute WRT provides a Python API to incorporate your own models to estimate ship performance tailored to your specific needs. A potential future development is the integration of empirical formulas based on general characteristics of the vessel (vessel type, dimensions, design draft, …) to also support weather routing in situations where detailed power consumption models are not available.

The MariGeoRoute WRT is also equipped to handle a variety of constraints and considerations, ensuring precise and effective ship route planning. Routes are intelligently plotted to navigate around landmasses, optimizing efficiency. Shallow waters are avoided by considering the minimum water depth requirements, which are essential for safe vessel navigation. Our WRT also supports the inclusion of waypoints to guide routes through predefined locations, increasing flexibility. It also incorporates OpenSeaMap data to avoid navigating through restricted areas such as no-entry zones or areas to avoid, ensuring safe navigation. In addition, Traffic Separation Schemes can be considered, allowing vessels to navigate through designated lanes efficiently while avoiding conflicting traffic. It ensures that each route is optimized, not only for fuel efficiency, but also for compliance with safety protocols and environmental regulations.

Wrapping Up

MariGeoRoute is transforming the maritime industry by providing smarter, safer, and more efficient routing solutions. By integrating hybrid routing algorithms and oceanic and atmospheric data, it empowers researchers and shows shipowners the potential of navigating the complexities of modern maritime logistics. Whether you are conducting an optimal routing study or considering future commercial applications, the MariGeoRoute WRT equips you with the tools to sail smoothly.

Ready to optimize your maritime routes? Explore the MariGeoRoute WRT today and embark on a journey towards smart shipping!

Call to Action: Interested in learning more about how MariGeoRoute can enhance your shipping operations or support your research? Contact us or visit our publications below to explore our features in detail.

References

• Weather Routing Tool(GitHub)
• MariData – Digital Twin for Optimal Vessel Operations Impacting Ship Design