Evasion policies for a vessel being chased by pirate skiffs |
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| Authors: | Yu Wang Xiangtong Qi |
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| Affiliation: | Department of Industrial Engineering and Logistics Management, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong |
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| Abstract: | Piracy attack is a serious safety problem for maritime transport worldwide. Whilst various strategic actions can be taken, such as rerouting vessels and strengthening navy patrols, this still cannot completely eliminate the possibility of a piracy attack. It is therefore important for a commercial vessel to be equipped with operational solutions in case of piracy attacks. In particular, the choice of a direction for rapidly fleeing is a critical decision for the vessel. In this article, we formulate such a problem as a nonlinear optimal control problem. We consider various policies, such as maintaining a straight direction or making turns, develop algorithms to optimize the policies, and derive conditions under which these policies are effective and safe. Our work can be used as a real‐time decision making tool that enables a vessel master to evaluate different scenarios and quickly make decisions. |
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| Keywords: | optimal control maritime shipping piracy attack transportation risk management |
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