Abstract
Currently vessels are often equipped with modern steering devices e.g. tunnel thrusters, podded drives, z-propulsion units. A modern steering concepts increase the manoeuvrability of the vehicle substantially. Special manoeuvres for berthing or casting off can be performed by controlling all available aggregates without additional assistance by tug boats, mooring lines or anchors. Furthermore, the reliability of the position information especially in ports and other safety critical areas has been improved by GNS systems and ECDIS. Today warranted position data are available, so that control tasks with high safety requirements can be realised automatically, especially in case of decreased visibility. A deficit of commercial track control systems consists in the path planning method to generate the input values of the specific track control systems by the navigating officer, especially in low speed modes. In order to face this lack, new manoeuvre planning algorithms have been developed and embedded in a simulation and test environment. The feasibility of the developed manoeuvre planning methods is demonstrated with one of the most challenging nautical tasks - the berthing manoeuvre.