Luis Carral

Universidade da Coruña | UDC · Department of Naval and Ocean Engineering

An escort tugboat comes to the aid of a vessel when that vessel is navigating in confined waters and at a speed that is usually higher than six knots. In the escort manoeuvre, two systems come into play. One is the propulsion and steering of the vessel. The other involves the tug winch in terms of the tension it exerts and the length of towline rel...

The aim of the present paper is to propose a new methodology for the production and installation of green artificial reefs (GARs) in shallow waters, with special attention to the transport stages. The process includes both onshore (manufacturing, road transport and unload at port) and offshore (load at port, sea transport, positioning, and deployme...

The IV Iberoamerican Congress of Naval Engineering was held in Seville (3–5 October) and Ferrol (6–7 October) [...]

The aim of the present paper is to propose a new methodology for the production and installation of green artificial reefs (GARs) in shallow waters, with special attention to the transport stages. The process includes both onshore (manufacturing, road transport and unload at port) and offshore (load at port, sea transport, positioning, and deployme...

The design of an artificial reef (AR) module for improving the fishing productivity of cephalopod molluscs in the Ares-Betanzos estuary (Galicia, NW Spain) is addressed in this study. At the time of deciding on a suitable AR design, it is first necessary to assess how the different marine species use ARs so that it is possible to define the complex...

The installation of artificial reefs serves to enhance marine ecosystems, although it also modifies them. These changes do not have to be irreversible, since it is possible to treat the functional life of an artificial reef (AR) as a variable factor to be determined, with the objective of contributing to the sustainability of the ecosystem.The ques...

The placement of artificial reef (AR) units on the seabed modifies the velocity field of the water, making the nutrients circulate properly and creating the necessary habitat for the settlement of the desired species. This paper proposes a methodology for determining the circulation in the vicinity of one specific AR unit module previously defined...

The seas and oceans of the planet provide a wide range of essential resources. However, marine ecosystems are undergoing severe degradation due to the unsustainable exploitation and consumption patterns of the linear economy. On the other hand, many economic activities linked to the sea generate a large amount of waste, leading to negative impacts,...

Overfishing and pollution have led to marine habitat degradation, and as a result, marine fisheries are now in decline. Consequently, there is a real need to enhance marine ecosystems while halting the decline of fish stocks and boosting artisanal fishing. Under these circumstances, artificial reefs (ARs) have emerged as a promising option. Neverth...

The application of hydrodynamics to the definition of artificial reefs is of great interest since the positioning of the artificial reef modules on the sea floor alters the water velocity field, causing an appropriate circulation of nutrients and promoting a habitat for settling desired species. Nevertheless, the designs must be subjected to a stru...

Shipbuilding is an increasingly competitive field. As the key players in this activity, shipyard managers have to make their counterparts in related industries aware of two conflicting needs. On the one hand, they must produce high quality components that are technologically advanced. On the other, they need equipment that lets them build vessels a...

Stricter guidelines, hand in hand with continuous technological advances, mean that vessels are safer and more efficient. At the same time, these changes make ships more complex and expensive. However, this is not the case with mooring equipment. Regulations vary in content, but have the same objective. They fail to improve the ships’ safety and pr...

I should like to describe the Compact Semi-Submersible (CSS) vessel which was conceived as a vessel with the scope and capabilities of much larger vessels at half the cost.

This paper considers the structures used today in the maritime and ocean industries to accommodate people in semi- permanent accommodation at sea: the floating hotels, or flotels. They have mainly been developed to support the activities of the offshore oil & gas industry, although in coastal areas they are widely used for several purposes, mainly...

This work proposes a green material for artificial reefs to be placed in Galicia (northwest Spain) taking into account the principles of circular economy and sustainability of the ecosystem. New concrete formulations for marine applications, based on cement and/or sand replacement by mussel shells, are analyzed in terms of resistance to abrasion. T...

Green Artificial Reefs (GARs) are marine structures to exploit sea resources in a sustainable way (produce food resources, improve the tourism, etc.). They should be installed on the seabed, process that is not usually easy. Therefore, their installation process should be clearly defined. The aim of this paper is to propose several methods for inst...

For the evolution and development of artificial reefs to attain the expected results, hydrodynamics is emerging as a key factor that must be taken analyzed in detail. In particular, thanks to the hydrodynamics of a given coastal area, suitable water circulation and velocity in the reef's interior can increase the yield and the renewal of nutrients...

The principle of sustainability should condition a project in which artificial reefs are being installed to protect biodiversity as well as enhance costal ecosystems. In particular, this principle should be taken into account in the logistical processes related to manufacture and transport. This study assesses the global warming potential (GWP) and...

Piloting in the Panama Canal is exceptional as, due to its importance, the functions of the captains of vessels are taken over by pilots. Hence, prior to inauguration of the expanded canal, a limited number of pilots experienced on the existing canal were certified for the transit of Neopanamax vessels by means of planned and innovative individual...

To exploit marine resources in a sustainable way, efficient management systems must be used such as green artificial reefs (GARs). These reefs are mostly made up of renewable and organic materials. When adopting the circular economy (CE) model, industrial processes must be reconsidered. By adapting how conventional artificial reefs (CARs) are engin...

The single adhesive joint has many applications in the shipbuilding industry, where it offers the advantage of joining materials (adherents) with different properties and characteristics using an adhesive. However, one disadvantage of this type of joint is the stress concentration at the ends of the joint, which directly affect the adhesive. Anothe...

The advantages of laminates in terms of the chemical properties and mechanical properties/weight relationship have motivated several applications of fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) composites in naval constructions due to the reduction in structural weight. This weight advantage has motivated multiple investigations dedicated to dissimilar material...

The complexity corresponding to the industrial projects and their management are concepts whose interest is increasing. The structural complexity derives directly from the main characteristics of complex systems, that is, many elements that interact, resulting in this structure of great importance in engineering projects. As well as in today’s worl...

The goal of this work is to carry out an economic analysis of a novel floating offshore wind structure, of which the main material is concrete: the SATH® platform. It takes a step forward in floating marine wind energy research, in which traditional platforms are mainly composed of steel. The technique to calculate the costs of the platform and the...

Many seas in the world are productive but limited to a few pelagic species, highly influenced by environmental conditions. This dependency makes necessary to develop solutions in order to promote wealth and biodiversity in productive regions. One of the recommended solutions to enrich the seas is the implantation of artificial reefs. These reefs mi...

In the shipbuilding industry, the application of fiberglass composite laminate panels has increased in the decades. In the preliminary design stage, it is convenient to use simplified formulas to estimate the first natural frequency of a stiffened panel that can be compared with the recommended ones by the Germanischer Lloyd’s [3]. In this work, it...

The Galician estuaries (rías) do not manage to increase the fishing yield, in spite of the fact that they are ecosystems of great biological production. Therefore, one of the measures to be taken is the implantation of artificial reefs (AR). They attract fish from neighboring areas and/or increase the area colonized by epifaunal species. An importa...

The pilotage in the Panama Canal (PC) is unique due to the importance it acquires; in fact, the pilot relieves the captain in his/her duties during the transit. This exceptional nature has meant that prior to the commissioning of the expanded canal; a small group of experienced pilots of the existing Canal was enabled for the transit of Neopanamax...

This book presents the proceedings of CIDIN and COPINAVAL. The papers present the development of the navy, maritime and riverine industry, contributing to the scientific and technological progress and development in the sector. In 2019 the congresses occurred in Cartagena, Colombia, a reference for science and technology innovation for Latin-Americ...

Gas and particle emissions from shipping as a consequence of the development of globalized international trade have become a cause for environmental concern. In this context, it is worthwhile to analyze any factors which may affect International Trade, and therefore Maritime Transport (MT). The expansion of the Panama Canal, which has enabled new p...

The Galician coast, and particularly its estuaries are ecosystems with a large biological production which require protection against the strong human pressure they suffer. Sustainability in fishing, shell fishing and recreational activities makes it advisable to develop measures such as the implementation of green artificial reefs (AR), which prom...

In response to an increased reliance on bigger, Neopanamax-sized vessels for shipping, the Panama Canal has been expanded. Whilst the way that vessels transit the newly expanded canal has stayed the same, maneuvering operations have changed. As a result, transit times have been affected. In accordance with the size and cargo of vessels, canal navig...

As projects have become more and more complex, there has been an increasing concern about the concept of project complexity. An understanding of project complexity and how it might be managed is of significant importance for project managers because of the differences associated with decision-making and goal attainment that are related to complexit...

Yachting uses the boat, in navigation and anchored, to develop different leisure activities. In this use the vessel remains static a great deal of the time of its total use, which constitutes a notable difference with respect to merchant activity. Maintaining the safe condition of the vessel at anchorage is not easy for the crew due to multiple fac...

The transit of vessels of liquified natural gas by the Panama Canal is a recent fact derived from the increase in the production and exchanges of natural gas via the sea. The application of new extraction technologies in the United States has as a consequence a surplus in production and an increase in gas exports through the progressive adaptation...

Traditionally, a cruising yacht’s superstructure has been built using metallic materials such as steel or aluminum. Superstructures built using steel are heavy, need excessive maintenance and have limitations when building smooth shapes. Aluminum superstructures are lighter and need less maintenance, but still have limitations in building smooth sh...

The extractive work of shellfish harvesting and fishing in the autonomous community of Galicia is a strategic economic activity. In this sense, the action of artificial reefs is of great interest as they act as instruments of arrangement and protection of the marine resources and ecosystems. The PROARR research project has led to the design of inde...

This book presents selected contributions to the Pan-American Congress of Naval Engineering, Maritime Transport and Port Engineering (COPINAVAL), which is in its twenty-fifth edition and has become a reference event for the global maritime and port sector, attracting more and more participants from different countries. The 2017 congress was held in...

The appearance of new gas extraction technologies has led to surplus production in the United States (Gulf of Mexico). At the same time, energy consumption in Asia has increased significantly and Japan has introduced important changes to its post-Fukushima energy policies. Taken together, these factors have resulted in an imbalance in production an...

This paper uses a method to analyze the economic influence of the size of floating offshore wind farms. The economic aspects analyzed, LCOE (Levelized Cost Of Energy) and costs, depend on the number of floating offshore wind turbines, which establishes the effect of the size of the farm. This influence has been carried out for a map in a specific l...

In semi-displacement vessels, the reinforced fiberglass composite superstructure, or FRP, is one of the best construction options due to its low weight, shape, and surface finish. A problem with the FRP composite material lies in the joint with the steel hull due to the lack of adherence in the joint between the deck and the superstructure’s FRP pa...

As projects have become more and more complex, there has been an increasing concern about the concept of project complexity. An understanding of project complexity and how it might be managed is of significant importance for project managers because of the differences associated with decision-making and goal attainment that are related to complexit...

The present paper proposes a Computational Fluid Dynamics model to analyze the operation cycle and exhaust gas composition in a four-stroke marine diesel engine, the W€artsil€a 6L 46. Once validated, the numerical model was employed to study the influence of several pre-injection parameters such as preinjection rate, duration, starting instant and...

As projects have become more and more complex, there has been an increasing concern about the concept of project complexity. An understanding of project complexity and how it might be managed is of significant importance for project managers because of the differences associated with decision-making and goal attainment that are related to complexit...

The present paper proposes a Computational Fluid Dynamics model to analyze the operation cycle and exhaust gas composition in a four-stroke marine diesel engine, the Wärtsilä 6L 46. Once validated, the numerical model was employed to study the influence of several pre-injection parameters such as pre-injection rate, duration, starting instant and n...

A wider knowledge of the oceans is necessary, therefore, Oceanography achieve a great future development. Within this research activity, oceanographic vessels are an important instrument. In its mission, they should be able to conduct investigations multipurpose, providing basic facilities for the development of disciplines such as Physical Oceanog...

The aim of this study is to evaluate the influence of the discount rate in some economic parameters which are relevant to study a floating offshore wind farm: the Net Present Value (NPV), the Levelized Cost Of Energy (LCOE) and the Discounted PayBack Period (DPBP). For this purpose, several maps have been created considering a particular location o...

The Panama Canal (PC) expansion will have an impact on trading patterns and the manner in which goods are transported around the world. Once the third set of locks at the Canal began their operation, it was clear that the way in which vessels transited the canal and their maximum dimensions were going to change. As such, the expanded Canal will und...

Studies on scientific winches installed on oceanographic/fisheries research vessels (ORVs and FRVs, respectively) are distinguished by the winches’ unique design features and the important role they play with scientific experiments. It is impossible to draw general conclusions when analysing scientific winches used for fisheries sampling experiment...

The physical principle that governs how ships are moored to a port has changed little over the years. Nevertheless, in recent decades, there have been developments in maritime transport towards increased vessel dimensions and operations in specialist terminals. These trends mean that offshore ports and mooring systems have to face more challenging...

This article discusses the state of the art for driving technologies of anchor handling winches for offshore operations. These systems are necessary for anchor handling operations associated with installation of many types of moored floating offshore structures. To perform these operations, it is necessary to use specialized vessels known as AHT (A...

Galicia's Rías face the challenge of solving key environmental issues. Fishing activities involving certain species are in decline and this trend has a negative impact on socio-economic contexts. Therefore, environmentally friendly technologies must be developed to protect and regenerate biodiversity; this biodiversity generates environmental wealt...

This paper develops a methodology to determine the installation costs of a floating wind farm installed offshore, the value of which depends on the type of floating offshore wind platform installed. In this context, several costs in the installation process have been defined: installation of the offshore wind generators, installation of the floatin...

With mid-depth trawling techniques, the number of fishing grounds available increases. In turn, the vessel can have a greater workload, as it has to control and direct its activity towards different species depending on the use of mid- or deep-sea equipment. However, specific equipment for each depth has to be used and this equipment influences the...

The Panama Canal (PC) has recently been in the world spotlight. In August 2014, it celebrated 100 years of uninterrupted service and, in June 2016, the expansion project for the canal was inaugurated. The final project involved building a third set of locks. Once the canal started to operate, it could be seen that the way in which vessels transited...

Scientific winches installed on oceanographic fisheries research vessels (ORV) have a specific application. This application involves controlling the oceanographic rosette used to measure conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) values through the water column. The aim of this report is to improve winch control systems, once the problems arising f...

The aim of this paper is to develop a methodology to determine the economic feasibility of a floating offshore wind farm. The methodology proposed considers that the life-cycle cost of a floating offshore wind farm is composed of the costs of each of the phases of its life-cycle (concept and definition, design and development, manufacturing, instal...

In off-shore activities, it is necessary for the floating equipment extracting raw materials to reach and maintain a static position along the seabed. Increasingly crucial in these operations is a new type of auxiliary vessel: the AHTS. While this work is being carried out, the deck gear related to towing and anchor handling -secondary and tugger w...

Over the last decade the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has highlighted the negative effect for human health of exposure to asbestos. The process they undertook has culminated in the amendment of the relevant SOLAS regulations. Changes came into force on January 1st, 2011; in these changes the new installation of asbestos containing mate...

As the oil shortage continues and the environmental regulation of emissions grows more restrictive, hydrogen becomes an attractive energetic vector.There are various possible applications for both merchant vessels and warships. Standard distributed electricity or emergency electrical requirements can be generated by fuel cells systems. Moreover, lo...

Stricter guidelines, hand in hand with continuous technological advances, mean that vessels are safer and more efficient. At the same time, these changes make ships more complex and expensive. However, this is not the case with mooring equipment. Regulations vary in content, but have the same objective. They fail to improve the ships’ safety and pr...

Very LargeFloatingStructures(VLFS)havesparkedtremendousinterestandbeenthefocalpointof severalarticles.TheMegafloat isparticularlywellknownforcoastaluse.Theaimofthisarticleisto reviewtheconceptofVLFS,showinghowtheyaredeployedforbothcoastalandoffshoreareas.Forthese offshore areas,theMOBproject(MobileOffshoreBase)isthedesignthathasbeenmostfullydevelop...

The traction force or bollard pull and specific function of a tugboat determine the size of its towing gear and deck fittings. These dimensions must enable the tug to carry out a manoeuvre safely. This article considers proposals made in the implementing regulations for calculating the length and diameter of the towline. It analyses the possibility...

Resulta imprescindible un mayor conocimiento de los océanos, por ello la Oceanografía está llamada a alcanzar un gran desarrollo futuro. Dentro de esta actividad investigadora, los buques oceanográficos constituyen un instrumento de importancia. En su misión deberán ser capaces de llevar a cabo investigaciones multipropósito, disponiendo de instala...