ORIGINAL ARTICLE Multi-objective optimization of oil tanker design Apostolos Papanikolaou • George Zaraphonitis • Evangelos Boulougouris • Uwe Langbecker • Sven Matho • Pierre Sames Received: 12 November 2009 / Accepted: 26 June 2010 / Published online: 22 July 2010 Ó JASNAOE 2010 Abstract Parametric optimization was applied to a double-hull AFRAMAX tanker design in order to reduce oil-outflow probability and increase cargo carrying capac- ity, and the results are presented here. A multi-criteria optimization procedure was set up in modeFrontier Ò using the cargo volume, the mean oil-outflow parameter and the steel weight of the cargo block as the objective functions. Calculations are based on a parametric geometric model of the ship created in NAPA Ò , and on a structural model created in POSEIDON Ò . Integration of the above software packages leads to an automated optimization procedure that provides improved feedback to the designer regarding the trade-off between the various design parameters and optimization criteria involved. The results obtained suggest notable improvements in transport capacity and oil-outflow performance for known, well-established yard designs. The presented work derives from a joint industrial project between Germanischer Lloyd (GL) and the Ship Design Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA-SDL), which continues the work done and coor- dinated by NTUA-SDL within the SAFEDOR project on the same subject. Keywords Design optimization  Risk-based design  Genetic algorithms  Multi-criteria decision making  Accidental oil outflow 1 Background 1.1 Project outline Following a series of catastrophic single-hull tanker acci- dents, current IMO regulations (and long before that, US OPA90) state that double-hull tanker designs are the only acceptable solution for the safe carriage of oil in tanker ships. According to current MARPOL regulations, the tank arrangement of the cargo block of an oil tanker should be properly designed to provide adequate protection against accidental oil outflow, as expressed by the so-called mean outflow parameter. The present paper outlines the risk- based parametric optimization of a double-hull AFRA- MAX tanker in order to achieve innovative designs with increased cargo carrying capacities, reduced steel weights and improved environmental protection. The research presented here is based on the results of a joint industrial project between Germanischer Lloyd (GL) and the Ship Design Laboratory of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA-SDL). This work is a further elaboration of an innovative risk-based oil tanker design procedure that was initiated in the framework of the EU project SAFEDOR. Building on the work presented earlier, the integration of the structural design software POSEIDON [1] into the multi-criteria optimization procedure allows the realistic estimation of the steel weight of the alternative designs, and the latest MARPOL regulations for accidental oil outflow (applicable to all newbuildings after 1 January 2010) have been implemented [2]. The fully automated optimiza- tion procedure developed here provides improved feedback to the designer regarding the trade-off between the various design parameters and the optimization criteria involved. The present study focuses on the optimization of the arrangement of the cargo area of an AFRAMAX class A. Papanikolaou (&)  G. Zaraphonitis  E. Boulougouris Ship Design Laboratory, School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece e-mail: papa@deslab.ntua.gr U. Langbecker  S. Matho  P. Sames Germanischer Lloyd AG, Hamburg, Germany 123 J Mar Sci Technol (2010) 15:359–373 DOI 10.1007/s00773-010-0097-7