Introduction
2 Introduction
change course to achieve a vision of a future in which
the world’s oceans and coasts are clean, safe, and sustainably managed.
Ocean engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering field aimed at wisely and innovatively solving
problems associated with working in the ocean environment, exploring the oceans, and harnessing its
resources. It is a study of civil, computer, electrical,
and mechanical aspects of engineering in combination
with fundamentals of mathematics, physics, material
science, naval architecture, and the ocean sciences. Today’s professional ocean engineers are involved in the
design, development, and operation of commercial and
naval ships, submarines, and autonomous marine vehicles and systems, offshore and coastal structures, ocean
energy converters, underwater sensor systems and technologies, and in meeting a host of other challenges
associated with our endeavors in the ocean.
This Handbook aims to provide an updated account
of key topics in ocean engineering and ocean technologies, including a review of important fundamental and
applied subject matter as well as contemporary developments in ocean technologies. The intended readers
include practitioners in a range of maritime industries as well as academic researchers and students in
ocean engineering and areas related to ocean technologies. At the same time, the Handbook aims to serve as
an important guide for anyone interested in the ocean
and human activities in the maritime environment. The
chapters in the Handbook are grouped into five parts.
In Part A, the focus is on fundamental topics of ocean
engineering; in Part B, it is on topics in marine transport and automation; in Part C the focus is on topics
in coastal design; in Part D it is on topics in offshore
systems; and in Part E the focus is on renewable ocean
energy.
1.2 History
Although engineers have been involved in working
in the ocean environment and in design and development of ships and submarines over centuries, ocean
engineering as a recognized formal discipline is relatively new, dating back to 1960s. In the United States,
concerns were expressed that engineers involved with
design and construction of ships, submarines and other
ocean systems lacked the necessary experience of the
ocean environment. In 1963, the loss of the submarine USS Thresher [1.2] heightened these concerns and
led to the development of this new engineering discipline at the undergraduate level; the Merriam-Webster
dictionary notes the first known use of the term ocean
engineering to be in 1964. Whereas naval architecture
traditionally deals with design and construction of ships
and offshore structures, and marine engineering deals
with the construction and operation of power plants
on ships, at docks, and harbors, ocean engineering is
associated with operations in the ocean environment
and deals with the application of engineering principles
and techniques of design, construction, and maintenance to working in the ocean environment and to
development and use of requisite ocean technologies.
Today’s ocean systems and operations are complex
and require multidisciplinary approaches. Therefore,
increasingly these disciplines overlap. Naval engineering and offshore engineering draw from all of these
disciplines in design, construction, and maintenance of
naval ships and submarines, and offshore platforms,
respectively.
1.3 Basics
Besides mathematics, physics, chemistry, and oceanography, a typical core ocean engineering curriculum at
an undergraduate level covers the topics of statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, graphics, electronics, programming, probability and statistics, data
analysis, hydromechanics, wave mechanics, materials,
structures, underwater acoustics, and control and dynamics systems. The curriculum culminates in design
of ocean systems. The topics covered aim to develop
an understanding of the ocean environment and its resources as well as fundamentals of engineering, and
provide the knowledge, the principles, and techniques
in:
1. Design, construction, maintenance, and survivability of ships, submarines and ocean structures
2. Understanding natural and anthropogenic signatures in the ocean
3. Performance enhancement of ocean systems
4. Control and automation and
5. System integration.
The coverage of the ocean environment encompasses characteristics of seawater and geochemical
properties, and such physical processes as surface and
internal waves, ocean and tidal currents, thermal gradients, and air–sea interaction. The engineering topics
2 Introduction
change course to achieve a vision of a future in which
the world’s oceans and coasts are clean, safe, and sustainably managed.
Ocean engineering is a multidisciplinary engineering field aimed at wisely and innovatively solving
problems associated with working in the ocean environment, exploring the oceans, and harnessing its
resources. It is a study of civil, computer, electrical,
and mechanical aspects of engineering in combination
with fundamentals of mathematics, physics, material
science, naval architecture, and the ocean sciences. Today’s professional ocean engineers are involved in the
design, development, and operation of commercial and
naval ships, submarines, and autonomous marine vehicles and systems, offshore and coastal structures, ocean
energy converters, underwater sensor systems and technologies, and in meeting a host of other challenges
associated with our endeavors in the ocean.
This Handbook aims to provide an updated account
of key topics in ocean engineering and ocean technologies, including a review of important fundamental and
applied subject matter as well as contemporary developments in ocean technologies. The intended readers
include practitioners in a range of maritime industries as well as academic researchers and students in
ocean engineering and areas related to ocean technologies. At the same time, the Handbook aims to serve as
an important guide for anyone interested in the ocean
and human activities in the maritime environment. The
chapters in the Handbook are grouped into five parts.
In Part A, the focus is on fundamental topics of ocean
engineering; in Part B, it is on topics in marine transport and automation; in Part C the focus is on topics
in coastal design; in Part D it is on topics in offshore
systems; and in Part E the focus is on renewable ocean
energy.
1.2 History
Although engineers have been involved in working
in the ocean environment and in design and development of ships and submarines over centuries, ocean
engineering as a recognized formal discipline is relatively new, dating back to 1960s. In the United States,
concerns were expressed that engineers involved with
design and construction of ships, submarines and other
ocean systems lacked the necessary experience of the
ocean environment. In 1963, the loss of the submarine USS Thresher [1.2] heightened these concerns and
led to the development of this new engineering discipline at the undergraduate level; the Merriam-Webster
dictionary notes the first known use of the term ocean
engineering to be in 1964. Whereas naval architecture
traditionally deals with design and construction of ships
and offshore structures, and marine engineering deals
with the construction and operation of power plants
on ships, at docks, and harbors, ocean engineering is
associated with operations in the ocean environment
and deals with the application of engineering principles
and techniques of design, construction, and maintenance to working in the ocean environment and to
development and use of requisite ocean technologies.
Today’s ocean systems and operations are complex
and require multidisciplinary approaches. Therefore,
increasingly these disciplines overlap. Naval engineering and offshore engineering draw from all of these
disciplines in design, construction, and maintenance of
naval ships and submarines, and offshore platforms,
respectively.
1.3 Basics
Besides mathematics, physics, chemistry, and oceanography, a typical core ocean engineering curriculum at
an undergraduate level covers the topics of statics, dynamics, thermodynamics, heat transfer, graphics, electronics, programming, probability and statistics, data
analysis, hydromechanics, wave mechanics, materials,
structures, underwater acoustics, and control and dynamics systems. The curriculum culminates in design
of ocean systems. The topics covered aim to develop
an understanding of the ocean environment and its resources as well as fundamentals of engineering, and
provide the knowledge, the principles, and techniques
in:
1. Design, construction, maintenance, and survivability of ships, submarines and ocean structures
2. Understanding natural and anthropogenic signatures in the ocean
3. Performance enhancement of ocean systems
4. Control and automation and
5. System integration.
The coverage of the ocean environment encompasses characteristics of seawater and geochemical
properties, and such physical processes as surface and
internal waves, ocean and tidal currents, thermal gradients, and air–sea interaction. The engineering topics