Port and channel design is often a balance between different aspects, e.g. dredging, siltation, costs and operational aspects. For MARIN the focus is on ship handling and maritime engineering in order to design port and waterways to a desired level of navigability and safety. This requires the assessment of a number of key elements, including vessel size and behaviour, human factors in ship handling and effects of the physical environment.

Our contribution covers the complete cycle from concept to operation. Desk studies or fast-time simulations can be done in the initial design phase. With detailed design studies MARIN can assess and validate the concept design based on safety criteria with regard to the key elements. We can incorporate all stakeholders by executing complex realistic simulations. In addition a safety assessment can be made with regard to the traffic intensity. Once having insight in the main risks, operational procedures can be designed to mitigate them.