ShipNetSim: A Multi-Ship Simulator for Evaluating Longitudinal Motion, Energy Consumption, and Carbon Footprint of Ships

Although ship modeling research is vast, most available simulation tools are confined to simulate a specific area of the vessel yet not addressing the bigger picture of the ship journey. This paper addresses this void by developing the open-source ShipNetSim simulator for simulating multiple interacting vessels on an open-seas setting. The main objective of this simulator is to enable a comprehensive analysis of energy consumption and the associated carbon footprint for the entire maritime system. One case study was conducted to demonstrate the simulator performance and validate the simulation model. The results show that the simulated trajectory is precise enough to estimate the energy consumption and carbon emissions.