The Mathematical Model Of The Dynamic Simulation Of The Lashing System Of The Vehicle On Board Ro-Ro Ships

The shifting of cargo on board Ro-Ro ships has been identified as a contributory factor for the significant number of Ro-Ro ships casualties, worldwide, over the last decade. It is the focus of the discussion of IMO and most Ro-Ro flag states when they investigated all means to enhance the safety of Ro-Ro ferries. With the recent rapid development of the Ro-Ro shipping in China, it is urgent for Chinese maritime authority to develop the code of practice for the stowage and securing of vehicles on Ro-Ro ships. And doubtlessly, the key to this problem is the quantitative analysis of the cargo operation on Ro-Ro ships.The thesis, which is divided into six parts, reviews the history of the Ro-Ro ship and the stipulations of IMO concerning the securing of cargo on Ro-Ro ships. The urgency for China to develop the technology standard for the vehicle securing on Ro-Ro ships is provided and reason is discussed. The conditions of the lashing system on board Chinese Ro-Ro ships are investigated and the western research results of the same problem are introduced and compared. In Chapter 3, mechanical and mathematical models for the estimation of the loads in the lashing systems of road vehicles on board Ro-Ro ships are developed. The result is calculated and simulated by the computer program which was provided by Professor S. Turnbull from Oxford University, Britain. The models of Ro-Ro ship and vehicle on board come from the most common types on the seaway in Bohai Strait. The construction of the models has been based on such theories as Theoretical Mechanics, Advanced Mathematics, Space Analytic Geometry, the Theory of Ship and Sea-keeping Theory.In the last part of the thesis, the discussion are fully developed for the result of thesimulation and the application of the model is demonstrated by using 'the chart of stowage and securing of vehicle on board Ro-Ro ships' to predict the cargo shifting of DASHUN, a severe casualty which happened in Bohai Strait in Nov. 24, 1999, causing more than 240 lives loss. At the end of the thesis, the suggestion is provided for the authority's consideration.