Z-Manoeuvring of a Liquified Natural Gas Carrier with Podded Propulsion System

The application of pod propulsion has become an important concern in designing a new lng carrier due to the high maneuverability characteristic. however, podded propulsion lng carrier is a new concept which is still in the evaluation stage. practically, the maneuverability of podded propulsion lng carrier is an uncertainty. hence, it is essential to assess the ship’s maneuvering characteristics. z-manoeuvre assessment is one of the recommended tests for maneuverability prediction. this paper discusses on z-manoeuvre characteristic of the podded propulsion lng carrier. a mathematical model for podded propulsion lng carrier was presented and a simulation program was developed for the z-manoeuvre assessment. finally, simulations were carried out on both conventional propulsion and podded propulsion lng carriers. the simulation results show that podded propulsion lng carrier has a better z-manoeuvre characteristic.