On parametric modelling, digital siblings and ship design optimization

Ship design is inherently coupled with design optimization, namely the selection of the best out of many feasible solutions. In traditional ship design, optimization means taking the best out of 2–3 feasible solutions and it is up to the designer to decide based on the design specifications and his experience. The space of feasible design solutions is however huge, the relevant assessment criteria are plenty and complex, as are the many possible design constraints. After all, the assessment procedure should be rational and according to the contemporary state of the art. All this calls for a step change of the ship design process. The parametric modelling of ship design by use of digital siblings and multi-objective optimization, as they have been elaborated within the recent Horizon 2020 project HOLISHIP project (2016–2020), show the way ahead in response to present and future challenges of the maritime industry.