Research on the Give-Way Ships Determination Based on Field Theory

The Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 (COLREGs) stipulates ships’ obligations when encountering each other. However, human action remains a primary cause of collision accidents. In the complex environment of mixed navigation involving MASS and manned ships, the applicability of the COLREGs for determining the give-way ship has faced certain challenges. Therefore, this study proposes a model for determining the give-way ship, combining ship characteristics and using an asymmetric Gaussian function to construct the potential field of stand-on ships from the perspective of give-way ships. It constructs the cost function based on field theory to determine the respective avoidance costs for both ships in a crossing situation, with the ship incurring the lowest cost selected as the give-way ship, followed by a case study to validate the model. The research is dedicated to coordinating avoidance action objectively, effectively reducing maritime collisions, and providing exploratory guidance for collision avoidance decision-making in future mixed navigation environments.