This paper presents the extent of the currently achieved progress in autonomous and remotely controlled ships in the maritime sector. Major researches, statements from relevant sources and various anticipations on this subject are presented to outline a comprehensive scope of such progress. The engine room on conventional merchant ships is used as a viewpoint because it comprises numerous and complex systems. The main purpose of this paper is to establish a link between the levels of autonomy and the engine room with its associated systems on a conventional ship. At each level, the link should describe the relations between autonomy and the systems which are commonly found in the engine room on conventional ships. To create this link, comparison analysis uses the latest statements from the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Classification Societies. Technical standards for autonomous and offshore vessels are derived from the guidelines provided by Classification Societies. Technical standards and requirements, related to the engine room of such ships, are individually described and compared to provide accurate and comprehensive scope of their current progress.

Marine propulsion shafting systems are exposed to torsional vibrations originating from excitations in their prime movers and propellers. It is essential to analyse their steady state response in the earliest stage of ship design. The paper describes the implementation of SimulationX software based upon simulation modelling for these calculations. This software can be used either by the design office of the shipyard or by the classification society for verification within the plan approval phase. Some specifics of the input data preparation are briefly discussed. In addition, the simulation results depend on the modelling approach chosen. For these reasons, the real two-stroke Diesel engine ship propulsion system was chosen and several different models were implemented for system modelling. SimulationX calculation results are compared with those of two well-known and field-proven programs that use an analytical approach. Finally, the results are compared with the measurements performed on the actual newly built ship. Discussion reviews the selected SimulationX model, and its verification and validation in the case of engine cylinders with normal ignition.

In today’s environment of increasing pressure to reduce fuel consumption and emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx), the LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) transportation industry is growing in size and influence. In this context, further efforts are needed to improve the energy efficiency of LNG marine energy power plant. The LNG vessels and their equipment considered in this study have different power consumption requirements depending on the vessel’s mode of operation (loading/unloading, maneuvering, anchoring, at sea, etc.). For each ship mode, where the power plant requirements are the same, the specific fuel consumption (SFOC) and exhaust emissions, NOx and CO2, are compared with a different number of engines in the network to find the optimal number of engines in the network, considering both the safety aspect and the port requirements. An analysis was performed showing the efficiency of the on-board power management system (PMS) in terms of manual load sharing between engines. A comprehensive analysis of the data and its comparison led to the conclusion that the manual distribution of power among the engines is the slightly better solution. The obtained results show that further analysis of the number of engines for a given load with minimum fuel consumption and CO2 and NOx emissions is required.

Prevention of air pollution from ships, according to MARPOL Annex VI, regulates the emission of specific pollutants contained in the exhaust gases into the atmosphere. In this paper, the Port of Kotor is analysed as a case study because of its distinct geographical features, permanent attraction for tourists, and the title of the third busiest port in the Adriatic in 2017. Ships arriving to the Port of Kotor represent one of the major sources of air pollution not only in the Port area, but also in Boka Kotorska Bay as an approach route towards the Port. For calculation of air pollution inventory in this case study, ship engines’ power method was used. The focus of the research analysis is on the cruise ships visiting the Port of Kotor in 2018. For that reason, all ships under 500 GT were excluded from the analysis. The pollution shows clear seasonal pattern characteristic for ports in the Mediterranean. This behaviour is emphasised as an increasing problem that needs to be addressed. The seasonal pattern causes 82.6% of all air pollution from cruise vessels concentrated in the period from May to November.

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