Abstract
Shipping transportation developed over years with the technological advancements. Modern ship navigation is conducted with the help of Automatic Radar Plotting Aid (ARPA) and Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). Location map, marine traffic, geographical conditions, and obstacles in a region can be monitored by these technologies. The obstacles may vary from icebergs and ice blocks to islands, debris, rocks, or other vessels in a given vicinity. In this study, we propose an approach for route optimization using two-dimensional radar images and image segmentation in an environment with obstacles. The navigation algorithm takes image segmentation results as an input and finds the optimal route (i.e. safest and shortest). One of the advantages of this study is that the obstacles are not solely polygonal, but they may be in any shape, size, and color. The proposed approach has some practical and computational limitations; however, the future unmanned vessels could benefit from the improved applications of this route optimization approach in terms of energy consumption, time, and workforce.