Mechanical Design of Fishing Vessels: A Hydrodynamic Assessment to Optimize the Engineered Hull Geometry

Abstract

The waters of Bengkulu hold significant potential in marine resources, particularly in the fisheries sector. However, the effective utilization of these resources largely depends on the performance of fishing vessels, which must operate efficiently and maintain stability in a wide range of maritime conditions. This study evaluates the hydrodynamic performance of fishing vessels using computational modeling. The simulation focuses on five hull designs, assessing key parameters, such as resistance, stability, and seakeeping at a speed of 20 knots. The resistance simulations utilized the Savitsky method to calculate the total resistance. The stability was analyzed using the righting arm (GZ) method, with tilt angles ranging from 0° to 180°. The seakeeping performance was evaluated using the strip theory. The simulation results indicated that the optimal performance for the fishing vessels was achieved with a resistance of less than 14.80 kN and power requirements ranging from 158.6 kW to 190.9 kW. The stability values ranged from 3.78 to 14.63 m.deg, the seakeeping parameters, including heave motions, ranged from 5.01 to 9.68 m/m, the roll motions from 6.37 to 6.69 rad/rad, and the pitch motions from 6.69 to 10 rad/rad. These findings provide valuable insights for developing optimized fishing vessel designs to exploit Indonesia’s marine resources sustainably.