Siltation of Approach Channel and its Influence on Ship Grounding

Ports at high siltation rates are covered with fluid mud layers which generally develop from short-term siltation. The presence of a fluid mud layer on the bottom of the channel has a considerable influence on ship behaviour, e.g. squat. The paper calculates siltation in an approach channel and its effect on ship motions. Firstly, siltation thickness and sediment density are predicted based on existing information of sediment, and the characteristics of mud layers are analyzed, Secondly, the squat and trim of ship navigating in the muddy areas are computerized. Finally a model through Monte Carlo simulation is presented to interpret the probability of ship grounding on the fluid mud layer.