The HSF-Arcos research project

The HSF-Arcos project is a joint research effort of a shipyard (Van der Giessen - de Noord, GN), a research institute (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, MARIN) and a company specialised in ship motion control (Imtech Marine & Offshore, in the following referred to as ‘Imtech’) to develop an advanced motion control system for fast ferries. The intention of the project is to enable optimisation of a fast ferry design for a specific route by taking advantage of the potential of simulation techniques and advanced motion control. Ride control is one aspect covered by the project; by including all ship motion components and by using wave information it is expected that the performance of a fast ferry in adverse weather conditions can be further improved. The paper introduces the project and reports the results of the first steps.