Real-time monitoring of port dynamics for safety of navigation and mooring manoeuvres within the European Interreg Maritime Project SINAPSI

The present PhD thesis developed within the Project “SINAPSI - Navigation assistance for safe access to ports”, which was part of the Interreg Italy-France Maritime 2014-2020 Programme. The Project involved Italian and French Partners, for the creation and development of instrumentation networks suitable for monitoring marine conditions in the Project ports, aiming to improve the safety of navigation. The Port of Genoa was one of the entities involved, and this thesis dealed specifically with the implementation of a network of Acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) for monitoring port water dynamics. Initially, a characterization of the Port of Genoa area was conducted, both in terms of management and logistics, and of the most frequently occurring weather and sea conditions, to identify the areas that may be most problematic for navigational safety and most interesting for the study of dynamics. In addition, a research regarding the issues and conditions most frequently encountered in maritime accidents was conducted , including the role of weather and sea conditions. Furthermore, part of the PhD Project was the involvement of international port realities to obtain useful information with respect to the characteristics that a monitoring network must have in order to be as efficient as possible. Before the set up of the network of current meters, monitoring campaigns has been carried out, with the aim to collect data on the dynamics of the Port of Genoa under different weather conditions, providing preliminary information to create a solid base on which to develop the Project, and to be compared with the data obtained from the monitoring network. The implementation of the monitoring network consisted of several steps, as the acquisition of the instruments and the facilities for their installation and for data transmission, the identification of suitable sites for the placement of the current meters, and finally the installation of the instruments in the Port of Genoa. Once the monitoring network was installed, the data obtained has been analysed for the study of water dynamics in the Port of Genoa. Therefore, this PhD Project therefore aimed to realise a fundamental tool for ensuring safety to navigation in port waters, also deepening scientific knowledge regarding the water dynamics of the area Port of Genoa.