As the development of ship building technologies, ships have been becoming larger and larger. As a result, the existing ports and waterways can not meet the requirements of safe navigation, berthing and unberthing operations of large ships. In order to ensure the safe berthing and unberthing for large ships, wharf and waterways need to be rebuilt, also it is necessary to check whether the rebuilt wharf can meet the navigation needs. In this paper, the ship handling simulator is used to simulate the safe berthing and unberthing of the pier. This paper establishes the mathematical model of ship motions, generates virtual navigation environment, applies the concepts of track zone width, potential ship handling water area, utility function and risk of berthing operation, and makes a comprehensive analysis of the width of the channel, ship manoeuvring waters and the safety of berthing operation, and puts forward some objective and reasonable suggestions on the safety of berthing. By practical application of ship-handling simulator to evaluate the safety of ship berthing and unberthing, it shows that the method based on ship-handling simulator is objective, feasible and reasonable to analyze and evaluate the navigation safety of wharf engineering, and has a good value of application.

Ice melting in polar waters caused by global warming has been making it practicable for merchant ships to sail in polar area. Sailing distances from Far-east to West of Europe and East of North America are shortened by around 30% by selecting polar routes, therefore, polar routes are considered as the golden routes. However, polar water has its unique risks for ships sailing in the areas. Those unique risks may cause adverse impacts to the survival of seafarers in case of emergencies. To ensure the safe abandonment of a ship in polar waters, this paper analyzes and summarizes the potential risks associated with polar shipping with respect to safe escape, evacuation and survival for seafarers in case of emergencies. Based on the analysis of unique potential hazards and inquiry with experts and seafarers who have experiences in polar ship operation and management, this paper provides practical measures to safeguard crew's escape, evacuation and survival in extreme polar circumstances when abandoning a ship. The requirements as to Life Saving Appliances and Arrangements in Polar Code are also interpreted in this paper, and those practical measures provided will help the ship owners, ship operators, and ship masters and seafarers to better understand and comply with the requirements of the Polar Code.