Optimal control of powertrain and energy balance to recover an equipment fault on a marine vessel

This paper proposes a generally applicable method of optimizing the power and energy balance of the main vessel producer and consumer units. The method is also used after an equipment failure as part of the power management process flow. The method proposes that the route plan is divided into distance steps and an optimization algorithm is used to determine the optimal way of producing power, deploying energy storage systems and controlling propulsion. The algorithm is used to autonomously determine the estimated vessel speed. By using additional inputs to the functions it is possible to assess the weather conditions and their effect on the travel plan, and thus always provide the most optimal solution to reach the harbor.