OPTIMAL COLLISION AVOIDANCE IN UNCONFINED WATERS

C. de Wit and J. Oppe

Peer Reviewed

Abstract:	Collision avoidance manoeuvring has been subject to studies for many years, especially since the introduction of radar and automated data handling. Most of these studies were done on a rather practical basis, meaning that practical maritime habits in this field were adopted without much criticism. This paper presents a somewhat unconventional solution to collision avoidance problems, in which a quantitative knowledge of the own ship’s dynamics can be fruitfully applied. As a slight premise, we only consider situations in which two ships are involved. Moreover the evading ship is assumed to have full navigational freedom, meaning that there are no positional restrictions, caused by shoals or bounds of depth channels. The resulting evading manoeuvre is a loop with continuously changing course and speed. It is less time consuming than former designs with piecewise constant courses. Thus the evader’s intentions become more clear to the other vessel, which is initially obliged to maintain course and speed. In order to avoid “last-moment-hazardous” situations, the evading manoeuvre is proposed to be started at the earliest possible time.
Published in:	NAVIGATION: Journal of the Institute of Navigation, Volume 26, Number 4
Pages:	296 - 303
Cite this article:	de Wit, C., Oppe, J., "OPTIMAL COLLISION AVOIDANCE IN UNCONFINED WATERS", NAVIGATION: Journal of The Institute of Navigation, Vol. 26, No. 4, Winter 1979-1980, pp. 296-303.
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