Multi-criteria weather routing optimization based on ship navigation resistance, risk and travel time

This paper presents the analysis of the weather routing scenario in a multi-criteria setup. The set of 3 conflicting criteria is: added navigation resistance (caused by wind and waves), navigation risk and travel time. To this aim the International Maritime Organization (IMO) safety guidelines are exploited for the design of navigation risk criterion as function of the METeorological and OCeanographic (METOC) and sailing conditions. This is directly integrated in the multi-criteria setup. The proposed methodology is tested in an operational scenario in the Mediterranean Sea showing the different alternatives to the decision-makers.