Maneuvering control and trajectory tracking of very large crude carrier

This paper presents a complex control system of the ship motions in confined waters. The general structure of this system is based on the two different controllers connected in parallel. They are dedicated to the different tasks and operate in different conditions. One of them is based on the robust control technology while another is based on the fuzzy logic technique. To decide which controller to use depends on the velocity of the vessel. The control system was implemented at the first stage on a nonlinear multi-variable simulation model and at the second stage on a real-time object—floating, autonomous model of the very large crude carrier (VLCC tanker). The whole system was developed in the MATLAB/Simulink platform.