Introduction of MMG standard method for ship maneuvering predictions

A lot of simulation methods based on Maneuvering Modeling Group (MMG) model for ship maneuvering have been presented. Many simulation methods sometimes harm the adaptability of hydrodynamic force data for the maneuvering simulations since one method may be not applicable to other method in general. To avoid this, basic part of the method should be common. Under such a background, research committee on "standardization of mathematical model for ship maneuvering predictions" was organized by the Japan Society of Naval Architects and Ocean Engineers and proposed a prototype of maneuvering prediction method for ships, called "MMG standard method". In this article, the MMG standard method is introduced. The MMG standard method is composed of 4 elements; maneuvering simulation model, procedure of the required captive model tests to capture the hydrodynamic force characteristics, analysis method for determining the hydrodynamic force coefficients for maneuvering simulations, and prediction method for maneuvering motions of a ship in fullscale. KVLCC2 tanker is selected as a sample ship and the captive mode test results are presented with a process of the data analysis. Using the hydrodynamic force coefficients presented, maneuvering simulations are carried out for KVLCC2 model and the fullscale ship for validation of the method. The present method can roughly capture the maneuvering motions and is useful for the maneuvering predictions in fullscale.