OPTIMAL ROUTE CALCULATING DEVICE AND OPTIMAL ROUTE CALCULATING METHOD

To provide an optimal route calculating device and an optimal route calculating method that can automatically perform optimal route calculation in the entire route from a departure place to a destination, while reducing the amount of calculation.SOLUTION: An optimal route calculation device comprises: an information input receiving unit that receives input of information including a departure place, a destination, and a departure time of a ship; an optimal route calculating unit that calculates an optimal route on the basis of the input information, ship performance data, and weather data in a route area where the ship travels; and a determination unit that determines whether a predetermined fixed route area is present between the departure place and the destination. When the fixed route area is determined to be present, the optimal route calculating unit adopts a fixed predetermined route in the fixed route area, divides the rest of the area into a plurality of areas partitioned by the departure place, the ends of the fixed route area, or the destination, and calculates the optimal route for each of the plurality of areas.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2 【課題】出発地から到着地までの航路全体における最適航路演算を、演算量を抑制しつつ自動的に行うことができる最適航路演算装置および最適航路演算方法を提供する。【解決手段】最適航路演算装置は、船舶の出発地、到着地および出発時刻を含む情報の入力を受け付ける情報入力受付部と、入力された情報と、船舶の性能データと、船舶が航行する航路領域の気象データと、に基づいて、最適航路を演算する最適航路演算部と、出発地と到着地との間に、予め定められた固定航路領域があるか否かを判定する判定部と、を備え、最適航路演算部は、固定航路領域があると判定された場合、固定航路領域においては予め定められた固定航路を採用し、残りの領域を、出発地、固定航路領域の端部または到着地によって区切られる複数の領域に分割し、当該複数の領域のそれぞれについて最適航路を演算する。【選択図】図２