Ship Performance and Virtual Ship

A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical object or system. The use of digital twins in the maritime industry helps to improve product quality, costs and flexibility during product development and the operation of modern ship systems. Digital twins can be used as a virtual ship for economic evaluation by integrating sensor data from different sources. This integration makes it possible to monitor the condition of the ship in real time, create performance analyses and risk assessments for ship operation and evaluate ship operation on the basis of simulations.

Physics-based modelling uses physical laws to describe the behaviour of maritime systems. Data-driven modelling, on the other hand, uses machine learning and statistical methods to identify patterns in data that can be used for predictions and analyses. Simulations also make it possible to test and analyse different scenarios without jeopardising real systems. Validation is used to check whether models and simulations are correct and accurately reflect reality. The resulting optimisation improves the performance or efficiency of maritime systems. Application-oriented visualisation is necessary in order to present and interpret the results of the previous process steps.

The digital twin of a ship requires comprehensive data management in order to record, store and manage a wide range of sensor data. This data is then processed and analysed. The secure, robust and on-demand provision of communication links for data exchange over long distances is very important for ship operations. Satellite communication technologies enable the continuous and reliable transmission of large amounts of data between the physical ship and its digital twin. Aspects of data security and data integrity must also be taken into account at an early stage.