Ship voyage optimization based on fuel consumption under various operational conditions

•Complete model of ship propulsion system developed to study ship fuel consumption.•Engine operating & weather conditions are combined and considered in whole voyage.•Engine management modes are compared to explore a way for saving more fuel. Aiming at reducing ship emissions and lower operational cost, less fuel consumption is always pursued by shipping industry. Compared with other methods on reducing the fuel consumption, such as optimizing the design of hull lines or ship propulsion system, setting additional energy saving device, the voyage optimization is a way which is easier to implement and needs less investment cost. In this paper, an integrated simulation model of ship propulsion and maneuvering system is established and verified. Then, a benchmark 38800 t cargo ship and a 32n miles coastal service are selected for the case study. Based on the ship operating characteristic and voyage environments, 24 representative cases of combination about the voyage set up and ship control modes are proposed. The ship fuel consumptions under 24 cases are calculated using the integrated simulation model. Finally, fuel consumption change under different conditions are analyzed and the most reasonable case of saving fuel consumption is provided. This study tries to investigate the influence of multiple factors on the ship fuel consumption considering the realistic and representative operating conditions, and provides theoretical suggestions for ship propulsion and maneuvering control, voyage planning and engine management for reducing fuel consumption over ship voyages.