Problem steering the Orient-Star in v1.3

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[Azipod]

I'm experiencing some difficulties doing fine steering with the Orient-Star, mostly during docking maneuvers.

As you know, now we have an extra "steering wheel" which I assume should assist in low speed control.

The problem is that all the controls are not really consistent.

At speed, it now seems that you have to turn BOTH the Azimuth thrusters and the steering wheel to really get the ship to turn purposely.  (There does seem to be some possibility of doing small rates of turn with just one control).

Most troubling though, is low-speed maneuvering of the ship (ie. aligning ship with port when approaching a dock).
I'm at a lost now as to how to do this.

Previously in v1.0 and v1.22, you can do small/fine steering by angling the azimuth pods.  With v1.3, it doesn't seem like it works -- and when it does work, it's not consistent and doesn't seem to work every time.  I also tried using the Steering controls to do this as well.  Again, it's not really consistent in that sometimes it does turn but other times it does not.

I'm at a total loss now as to how we are suppose to control this ship.   I like to hear what type of experiences and what methods/techniques you guys are using.

Thanks!!!

[appleair]

Hello Azipod,

What I do is simply what I did before in v1.0. I used shift-left or right and at the moment in v1.3 it works just fine. However, I'm noticing I have to turn the azimuths more in low-speed maneuvering and that simply turning the wheel does not seem to change the azimuths' direction.

If I were using more precise methods of maneuvering, such as when docking, I did not bother using the wheel, and just rotated and controlled thrust with my mouse. My speculation is that the wheel might be there for those that are confused with azimuths as they are reversed. For me, I look at the inverted "T" on the azimuth control. If you intentionally think that the horizontal side of the "T" were the direction of thrust, with the vertical side being the side where thrust comes from, it seems to work for me to counter the confusion of the reversed azimuths.

For turning with the precision steering, the direction arrow that you push is the way the ship goes. For example, if I click Shift-Left, the ship would turn left. I click the lower part and drag left or right depending on which way I want the thrust to go and the upper half, dragging up and down for controlling the amount of thrust.

I prefer the user interface with v1.0 and v1.3 with the reversed azimuths as for me, for some reason, it is easier for me to move the ship laterally to go alongside the pier when docking.

Apple

[vampire]

Experience - I was onboard MV Arcadia (P&O's Vista-class, i.e. azipod-driven ship) and was invited to try out the onboard training simulator in aziman mode (i.e. azipods and bow thrusters only).  With some guidance from the Staff Captain, I successfully brought MV Arcadia up the Solent and brought her alongside at dock 34. 

SSE v1.3 is, for a computer game, fairly close to how Arcadia behaved.  I follow the rules I had to follow on Arcadia, i.e. rpm never below about 40 rpm, never let the wash from one pod directly hit the other, only allowed to use "forward" rpm.  i.e. to slow down or go astern, the azipod has to be rotated through 180 degrees.  Following these rules makes it even more difficult to start with, but with a bit of practice it's actually quite easy to do what you want to do.

For example, to go slowly, the pods are pointed almost at each other.  if they are pointed exactly at each other, the ship won't move.  If they are pointed 45 degrees off from pointing at each other, the ship moves at just a couple of knots.

When I'm driving Ocean Star at speed, I still use just aziman mode.  I don't bother using the wheel, instead I turn both pods by up to 35 degrees, usually only 10-15 degrees is required.

Remember that if the pods aren't producing thrust, they are less efficient at turning the ship.

Remember that if you use the bow thruster to move the bow to port, the ship will rotate around it's centre of mass and the stern will move to starboard - and you'll need to use the starboard azipod to stop this.

Similarly, if you use an azipod to move the stern to port, the bow will try to move to starboard.  Again you'll need to use the bow thruster to stop that.

[Azipod]

Vampire,

Thank you so much for your post.

I didn't realize the details such as keeping engines about 40 RPM, always using forward speed, etc.

I'll try out this new technique -- sounds like it would be challenging for the first time.

Are there any other standard procedures you can share with regards to operating an Azipod ship?

When is it OK to pull the engines to idle?  Why do you think that engines have to maintain 40 RPM or greater and always only in forward motion?

Thanks.

[vampire]

I was told that engines can go to idle when your speed is slow (< 2 knots).

I asked why the rpm should be kept above about 40 rpm and was told "it's technical" :-)

I can make a few guesses though:
Perhaps there are vibration issues at low rpm?
The motors are I believe 6-pole brushless, and perhaps the Electronic Speed Controller system has issues with driving the motors at low rpm?
Perhaps 40 rpm means that the propellers are always pulling?  Remember, the propellers are at the front of the azipods.  If they started pushing instead of pulling, the various seals would have forces exerted on them in the opposite direction to which the are normally exposed.

I have some friends in the shipping industry so I'll ask them for a definitive answer which I'll post if I can.

Vampire

[vampire]

I have some definitive information for those who want to drive the Orient Star in a realistic way (without breaking the pods!) :

Minimum rpm is 30.  Don't put the pods in reverse; instead turn the pods through 180 degrees to slow down. 

Minimum rpm is for lubrication purposes.

Don't toggle between 0 and 30 rpm.  If you are maneuvering, leave the pods at 30 rpm until you've finished with engines, i.e. moored up alongside.  By using the pod angles, you can produce a force on the stern in any direction you require.  It's up to you to figure out what those angles are   Hint : pointing the pods at each other results in no force...

Don't let the wash from one pod hit the other!

Vampire

(Many thanks to my friends in the industry for the info!)