Vessel’s navigation safety management in shallow waters at the port area

It often happens that ports serve larger vessels than for which they were developed. The main limitation is the depth and width of port waters. Draft determines the safety of traffic. In Ukrainian ports, the maximum clearance is set in accordance with the legislation on ports, however, you can change the maximum draft of the vessel coming from the current and forecast conditions regarding the water level. The process of safe navigational motion is called maritime safety. It can be qualified as a set of technical, functional, and operational conditions, as well as a number of recommendations, rules, and procedures. It can minimize the likelihood of undesirable events that can result in damage or loss to a ship, cargo, port facilities, or environmental pollution. These factors are the result of vessel’s functioning and the specific “man-ship-environment” system. This means that under certain conditions a suitable trajectory of a ship cannot be planned. So, it is not always possible to steer a ship along the correct planned trajectory. Environment is an important component of this system, in this situation to understand as the water area in which the vessel is moving. A quantitative assessment of shipping safety requires the use of appropriate, suitable criteria, measurements, and norms that make this possible. The criteria serve as the basis for the assessment, which can allow qualifying accidents. It ensures that security levels are managed. Applying the results of a navigation safety assessment is called security management. This can be used to design and modernize waterways and determine the conditions for their use. It can allow building and modernization of waterways elements (fairway, approach channel, entrances to the port and port basin, berth, anchorage zone, and turn area), which is the best way from an economic point of view, while supporting an appropriate level of vessel’s safety. This article presents an assessment of navigational risk in case of damage to the hull of the vessel from contact with the ground. The results of this study can be used to improve ship traffic safety in order to optimize port operations.