India’s inland waterways expansion faces a critical challenge: balancing vessel movement along the Ganges with essential cross-river traffic at numerous pontoon bridges. An innovative engineering solution aims to minimise delays for barges and communities alike, improving navigation efficiency while supporting trade, connectivity, and the broader economic potential of sustainable inland transport.

New insights into submarine manoeuvrability are helping refine the complex hydrodynamic models that underpin underwater operations. Focusing on nonlinear motion behaviour and force coupling during extreme manoeuvres, the research identifies a streamlined set of coefficients capable of representing six-degree-of-freedom dynamics, offering potential improvements in simulation accuracy, design, and operational performance.

Bangladesh’s growing fleet of FRP composite boats highlights both opportunity and risk. An assessment of local boatbuilding practices revealed critical structural shortcomings, outdated manufacturing methods, and weak compliance with industry standards. The findings underscore an urgent need for improved engineering oversight, modern production techniques, and stronger regulation to enhance vessel safety and industry resilience.

Advanced modelling is unlocking new possibilities for multi-alloy marine structures. Using molecular dynamics simulations of friction stir welding between steel and aluminium, researchers examined atomic interactions, material flow, and defect formation to optimise joint performance. The findings provide valuable insight into stronger, lighter vessel designs and the challenges of dissimilar-metal fabrication.

Advanced CFD techniques are improving the accuracy of high-speed craft performance prediction. By applying a modified High-Resolution Interface Capturing method to better model air-water interactions during planing, researchers reduced resistance estimation errors. Validated against experimental data, the approach offers valuable guidance for propulsion design, efficiency optimisation, and next-generation vessel development.

PID-based anti-sway control is improving crane safety and performance during load handling operations. By combining structural analysis, dynamic modelling, and controller optimisation, researchers significantly reduced lateral oscillations and settling times. The approach offers practical insights for safer cargo movement, enhanced operational stability, and smarter automation across industrial lifting environments today.

Advanced simulation is enhancing understanding of ship slamming loads and impact dynamics. Using an incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics model with fluid-structure coupling, researchers accurately captured pressure peaks, hydrodynamic forces, and flow behaviour while reducing numerical noise. The methodology offers a powerful tool for predicting structural loads and improving vessel design.

Autonomous navigation is moving closer to commercial reality with a collision-avoidance system designed for large vessels operating in busy waterways. Using a COLREGs-compliant heading-set approach integrated into autopilot controls, the framework safely manages complex multi-ship encounters, enabling reliable route recovery, enhanced safety, and greater confidence in Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship operations.

A new simulation framework is strengthening naval resilience against underwater explosion threats. Combining explicit dynamic modelling, Doubly Asymptotic Approximation, and Underwater Shock Analysis techniques, researchers identified critical blast locations that generate severe whipping responses. The methodology delivers valuable insights into hull integrity, survivability, and risk-informed design for next-generation naval vessels.

Real-time corrosion detection is transforming offshore asset inspection. By combining YOLOv8n object detection, ResNet-50 feature extraction, XGBoost classification, and GAN-generated training data, the system delivers high-speed, accurate identification of corrosion from live video feeds. The approach promises safer operations, reduced inspection costs, and more proactive maintenance of critical infrastructure.

Active fin technology is showing strong potential to improve vessel stability across varying sea conditions. Using advanced hydrodynamic modelling, researchers evaluated how controlled fin movements influence roll and pitch behaviour, finding significant motion reductions and shifts in natural frequencies. The results highlight important design considerations, particularly the varying effectiveness of active fins at different operating speeds.

Advanced simulation capabilities are enhancing confidence in ship performance predictions under realistic sea conditions. A newly developed 3D numerical wave tank captures large-amplitude vessel motions at forward speed, overcoming key modelling challenges and numerical instabilities. Validated against established results, the approach offers a powerful tool for safer, more efficient ship design and analysis.