An optimal control strategy of ballast systems used in ship stabilization

This paper tackles the problematic of ship stabilization using optimal amounts of resources, in the case of loading and unloading operations on docked vessels. A mathematical model linking the ship´s positioning and orientation with the forces and moments exerted upon the hull is required in order to develop an optimal control strategy for the ship´s stabilizing ballast systems. This strategy is designed using graph theory concepts, and it focuses on generating an optimal command sequence in respect to minimum energy consumption taking into account the ballast system´s topology.