Predicting the effects of boat generated waves within sheltered waterways

The introduction of regular, high-speed commercial ferry services and the growing popularity of highpowered, high-speed recreational craft have resulted in danger and damage from the waves they generate on many inland waterways. There is an increasing need to implement one or more of the following remedial measures:

• regulate vessel operations within these regions (speed and/or route),
• optimise the vessel design to minimise or eliminate the generation of damaging waves,
• implement remedial measures on shore.

The most commonly adopted remedial measure for documented cases in sheltered waterways is to regulate vessel operations through the implementation of suitable criteria. Regardless of the actions adopted, there is a demonstrated need to understand the phenomenon and to develop the means to minimise its effect through design and operation.

A technique is outlined to assess the wave wake of vessels that operate within sheltered waterways that possess sensitive shorelines. This includes the development of a predictive tool that can be used to quantify the characteristics of the waves generated by a wide variety of vessel hull forms under practical operational conditions, and the adoption of suitable regulatory criteria for vessel operations on sheltered waterways. The combined use of the prediction tool and criteria provides the means to identify any potentially serious wave wake issues very early in planning and design stages of a vessel for a particular route.