Floating Cruise Terminal in Exposed Sea at Curaçao

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine whether a floating terminal could be a suitable and feasible solution for the realisation of a new berthing location for the cruise ships of the future. This feasibility study is based on the amount of downtime of a terminal due to excessive motions because of wave loading. Therefore, this study focuses on the hydrodynamic responses of such floating terminals. To be able to carry out this study, local wave data are required, which are not available. Therefore, the local climate is approximated with the wave model SWAN. The hydrodynamic assessment consists of simulations carried out in the frequency domain, using the Ansys AQWA Suite. Considered are vertical and lateral accelerations, roll and pitch motions. Motion criteria for these motions are compared with the simulation results from AQWA. The following aspects have been studied to determine their influence on the amount of downtime: the presence of a cruise vessel, wave angles, swell and wind wave scenarios and two floating terminal variants. From this study, it is concluded that all mentioned aspects do have a notable influence on the amount of downtime of a floating terminal. For both terminal models and all wave angles, heave accelerations are the limiting factor, with and without a cruise vessel next to the terminal. For these two specific floating terminals studied, the realization is only feasible in a specific cases. It is recommended to optimize both the mooring configuration and the dimensions and hull of the floating structure in an additional study. This may lead to reduction of heave accelerations, which in turn can greatly improve the potential of this concept.