A method for the probabilistic assessment of the on-board comfort on a passenger vessel route

The intense maritime traffic of modern days requires that a considerable attention be paid toward the comfort of ships not only as design criteria, but also as a means of assessing the quality of navigation in service conditions. Certain passenger routes and ship dimensions are more vulnerable than others to rough weather and the current climate changes require adaptation of design and navigation warning strategies. The main aim of the paper is to describe a method to derive a probabilistic representation of the comfort of passengers and crew on a selected route. AIS data is used to identify and characterise the chosen route. The seakeeping properties of the principal ships are evaluated employing a strip theory code. Detailed wave hindcast data is then employed to build state-of-the-art wave scatter diagrams along the route which allow the calculation of the ship responses for each sea state and the associated probability. The Motion Sickness Incidence is finally used as a comparative measure of the overall on-board comfort experienced on a variety of passenger vessels.