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OPTIMAL SHIP ROUTE SEARCH BASED

ON MULTI-OBJECTIVE GENETIC
ALGORITHM
Ashwin R1, Ilamparithi Yaazharasu CR2, Pavan Teja Ramana3, Paladugu Shilpa4, Jeyakumar G5
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Amrita School of Computing, Coimbatore,
Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, India.
1
cb.en.u4cse19345@cb.students.amrita.edu, 2cb.en.u4cse19325@cb.students.amrita.edu,
3
cb.en.u4cse19343@cb.students.amrita.edu, 4cb.en.u4cse19342@cb.students.amrita.edu,
5
g jeyakumar@cb.amrita.edu (corresponding author)

Abstract—Optimization of ship routing depends on several
parameters such as ship and cargo characteristics,
environmental factors, topography, international navigation
rules and crew comfort, etc. Ship route optimization is an
essential problem for ship operators to reduce fuel
consumption and voyage duration. This work presents an
algorithm to plan safe and optimal routes for ships moving
inaccessible areas and with unlimited traffic direction. The route
obtained is optimized with multiple objectives which makes it
more unique and optimal. An evolutionary algorithm is used to
create numerous locally optimal routes, and a parallel genetic
algorithm is used to construct a final route by optimizing a set
of said routes.
Keyword - Genetic algorithm, Mutations, Crossovers, Ship Route
Planning, Multi Objective, Single Objective.
I. INTRODUCTION
Evolutionary Computing (EC) is a discipline of computer
science categorized under soft computing paradigms of
Artificial Intelligence (AI). To overcome issues with global
optimization, EC has a pool of algorithms known as
Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs). EAs technically fall under the
category of population-based, iterative, stochastic computing
metaheuristic problem solvers. The biological processes of
reproduction, recombination, mutation, and selection are
imitated by the EAs. The fitness score of the individual is
calculated by the fitness functions, designed for the given
optimization problem. The best candidates are chosen in the
evolutionary process, iteratively, until an optimal solution is
attained. For the purpose of solving optimization and search
problems, the genetic algorithm (GA), a part of EA, is employed.
The initial solutions, the maximum number of generations, the
kind of mutation, and the type of crossover are the parameters
of GA. The values for these parameters are either initialized or
given as input by the user. GA generates an initial random
population and uses a fitness function, for the process of natural
evolution to find an ideal solution for the population. Until the
acceptable solution is obtained or the allowed constraints are
reached, the GA process is in the run.
Planning a sea route for a ship is not an easy job. It depends
on different constraints. They range from the wind to the
wave, from health to wealth, and from time to money. For a
ship to travel from one point to other there might be multiple
objectives that need to be considered to optimize along the
route. Finding an optimal ship route considering all the
constraints over the complete journey is the objective of the
work proposed in this paper.
The remaining part of the paper has multiple sections, as
mentioned below. Section II explains the studies reported in
the literature related to the work presented in this paper,
Section III describes the design of experiments conducted as
part of this study, Section IV discusses the performance of
different GA variants and finally, Section V concludes the
paper. The experiments are implemented using Google Colab
with Python as the base language.
II. RELATED WORKS
This section explores the applications of GA in solving
optimal ship route-finding problems. The article [1] proposes
a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm that uses non-
dominated Sorting. This paper reduces the time complexity
from MN3 to MN2 for multi-objective meta-heuristics
algorithms. It restricts the spread of uniformity in some cases.
In [2], GA is used to reduce a ship’s fuel consumption while
taking into account the two main factors affecting the weather
of ship routes – the wind and the waves. To demonstrate that
the algorithm can provide high-quality routes under actual
conditions even with uncertain weather forecasts, stochastic
weather data is used to evaluate it. Unique environmental
modeling is used to represent the initial route and obstacle
generation. The authors considered other factors like tides into
the objective function to get more accurate route generations.
In [3], authors suggest a constrained nonlinear optimization
problem or a constrained graph problem, or a combination

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of both can be used to model the weather routing problem. The
exact needs of the optimization targets, control variables, and
restrictions, as well as the implementation, clearly have a
considerable impact on the model. The method proposed in [4]
is adaptable to bigger regions and degree-based coordinates.
The parameters are the time a ship is expected to arrive at
a waypoint, the time a ship is expected to leave a waypoint,
and the speed a ship is expected to travel while following the
edge after the waypoint. The algorithms are divided into two
parts. The first sub-algorithm designs a single route, while the
second takes multiple of the first’s routes as input and produces
eight single routes as a result. This work proposes an algorithm
that ignores sea level fluctuations, assuming that a ship goes
alone, that there are no other ships in the region, and does
not take into account tides or sea depth. The PSO-GA hybrid
algorithm used in [5] uses the ability of social thinking in PSO.
The authors, in [6], provide more route options for captains and
shipping companies by putting forth a multi-criteria ship route
planning method based on an improved PSO-GA. Based on the
components of multi-criteria route planning and ship
navigational characteristics, the study establishes a framework
for multi-criteria route planning. Crossover, mutation, and
multi group elite selection operations are used to increase
population diversity.
In [7], the regions with higher wave heights are predicted
using machine learning techniques. A prediction map is created,
and the A* algorithm is used to avoid these areas. It entails
building a model for a neural network that predicts waves. A
neural network with five feature inputs and one wave height
feature output is constructed. The shortest route is found
directly using the A* algorithm. The text and visual statistics
are not adequately real-time, and the technique is not
sufficiently accurate. However, this approach has the
drawbacks of being time and labor-consuming.
In the article [8], the authors suggest a newly established
weather routing optimization technology that tracks fuel
consumption while taking into account ongoing variations in the
sea and weather, such as wind, waves, and currents. In this
study, route optimization is done by minimizing a cost function
that represented the total amount of fuel used to navigate from
one place to another. An evaluation of the course from the point
that corresponds to the identical navigation time from the initial
point to the destination is done in the simulation at a particular
navigation time using a revised weather prediction that is altered
from the starting one. The weather routing issue is solved
iteratively by repeating this process.
In [9], to quickly determine precise planning routes, the ship
maneuvering constraints are taken into account. First, the
turning and speed reduction model of ships is constructed,
which serves as the foundation for the precise computation of
approach states between the own ship and target ships. Second,
using the quadtree approach, a detection algorithm between
lines and irregular polygon borders is obtained to validate the
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position link between the intended route and terrestrial features
on the map. Finally, this paper offers a novel evolutionary
algorithm based on double-cycling optimization. GA is also
used to resolve several delicate real word optimization issues in
our environment. Next, a few of these pieces are shown. The
paper [10] focuses on one of the main issues the online
community facing - computer malware or more particularly
cyber security. The two fields of biologically inspired
computing and computer malware are combined in this article.
This paper explores the potential, difficulties, and opportunities
associated with merging evolutionary computing methods with
malware generation under the guidance of proactive defense. In
[11], the author implies a GA-based method for dividing up
slices of brain MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) images. In
this study, various GA parameters have been examined, and a
slice-type-based optimum threshold value has been established.
Thus, the wide applicability of GA (on its own and by
hybridizing with other algorithms [12, 13]) is evident in the
literature on solving a variety of global optimization algorithms.
GA is also used for optimizing the design parameters of neural
networks. In [14], the authors have used GA to train the
spiking neural networks. In [15] the authors have explained
different methods of implementing different steps of a GA,
while [16] discusses different types of GA that have been found
and used in recent years and all the operators that have been
used till now in solving different steps of a GA.
The article [17] works on how GA can be implemented
to solve a real-life problem which in this case is a different
variant of the Job Scheduling Problem. The authors of [18]
discuss an approach to solve the 0/1 knapsack problem using
an evolutionary multi-objective genetic algorithm where
simple point mutation and simple point crossover are used.
In [19] differential evolution (DE, a meta-heuristic
approach) is used to solve the or calculate the exact threshold
value for thresholding which later is used in the image
segmentation, while [20] uses same DE to perform image
fusion instead of segmentation. The article [21] presents a
critical analysis of an existing prominent graph model of EAs
and also a comprehensive analysis of interactions within
differential evolution, modeling as a graph.
On understanding the applicability of GA and the
complexity involved in the ship route finding the problem, this
paper proposes a simplified GA-based approach to solve a
single stage multi-objective ship route finding problem.
III. DESIGN OF EXPERIMENTS
The objective of this work is to predict the ship route
between two cities/ports with multiple objectives so that the
route is as short as possible and is highly safe for the ship to
travel in the path. Initially, the problem is modeled as a single
objective route-finding problem between two ports. Later, the
model is extended to include multiple objectives along the
routes.
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The ocean environment is modeled as a 2-dimensional grid,
with each cell containing several objective values and costs. A
route in the grid is the set of line segments connecting the
grids between the source port and destination port. The details
are presented in Figure 1. A set of random routes are generated
as the initial population. The GA-based crossover and mutation
operators are used to generate new routes and to run the
genetic evolution.
Fig. 1. Grid representing a map and path(traced)
The fitness of the routes is measured using a cost function.
The optimized and non-dominated routes are chosen. By sorting
all the available routes from the current and previous
generations the Pareto front is created, from which the routes
for the next generations are decided. A visualization of the
sorted population of the routes is presented in Figure 2. The
stopping criteria are that either the algorithm runs for the
required number of generations, or the algorithm stops when a
few continuous generations have the same best solution (i.e., the
route with the same cost).
Fig. 2. Visualization of fronts
The experiments are carried out by modeling the problem
in to following two types.
(1) Single stage single objective problem.
(2) Single-stage multiple objective problems.
The details of the experiments, the results, and the discussions
are presented next.
A. Single stage–Single Objective
The ship travels from starting port to the destination port
with a single objective i.e., distance. Since the map is
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represented as a 2-dimensional grid, the ship is modeled to
travel from the left side of the grid to the right. Considering the
single objective, each cell in a row with the least cost is marked
from starting cell to the destination cell, which results in the
generation of a complete route that the ship to travel along.
A sample route for the grid of size 10 x 10 is (4,1), (4,2),
(9,3), (10,4), (6,5), (8,6), (4,7), (5,8), (4,9), (8,10).
The ship travels from one column to the next column to the
right at each position. The cost function designed to measure
the fitness of the routes is shown in Equation 1, for a grid of
size m x m.
𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑠𝑠𝑠𝑜 (𝑆𝑟𝑐, 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑡)
𝑗=𝑚/2 𝑗=𝑚
= ∑ 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑[𝑖1 ][𝑗] + ∑ 𝑔𝑟𝑖𝑑[𝑖2 ][𝑗]
𝑗=0 𝑗=𝑚/2
(1)
where Src is the source port, Dest is the destination port,
grid[i][j] is the cost (measured as time or distance), i1 and
i2 are the adjacent way-points and ssso is ‘single stage single
objective’.
As seen in the cost function, if the ship moves from (5,0)
to (3,9) (as shown in Figure 1), the cost in the cells (5, 0),
(6,1), (3, 2), (6,3), (5, 4), (7, 5), (0, 6), (0, 7), (4, 8) and (3, 9)
is summed up as the total cost to travel from (5,0) to (3,9).
B. Single stage-Multi Objective
In this model, the ship travels from starting port to the
destination port with multiple objectives like distance, safety,
travel time, and fuel consumption. Similar to the previous
model, the ship always travels from the left to the right side of
the grid. Considering multiple objectives, each cell in a row
with the least cost is marked from starting cell to the
destination cell, which results in the generation of a complete
route that the ships can travel along. Multi-objective sorting is
done using NSGA III non-dominated sorting.
The cost calculation procedure is similar to as it is done in
the single stage single objective model, with a distinction that
each cell holds the cost of several objectives (here constraints
are also taken into account)
The cost function for single stage multi-objective problem,
for a grid of size m x m, is designed as follows
𝑛/2
𝑀𝑖𝑛𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑧𝑒 𝑓𝑠𝑠𝑚𝑜 (𝑆𝑟𝑐, 𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑡) = ∑𝑗=0(𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒[𝑖1 ][𝑗] + 𝑔(𝑦 ∗
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑧) + 𝑔(𝑦 ∗ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑧)) + ∑𝑛𝑗=𝑛/2(𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒[𝑖2 ][𝑗] + 𝑔(𝑦 ∗
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑧) + 𝑔(𝑦 ∗ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑧)) (2)
where y and z represent the wind magnitude and wind
direction, respectively, Src is the source port, Dest is the
destination port, g(a) is the function that calculates the effect
of wind on time, i1 and i2 are the adjacent way-points and ssmo
is ‘singe stage multi-objective’.
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IV. RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS (1) for single stage single objective, the cost for the
optimized path with distance as the objective is 38.80, and
A. Single Stage-Single Objective
the time taken for this route is 52.14.
On an assumed grid the for ship to travel from (5,0) to (3,9), (2) for single-stage multi-objective, the cost for the
the initial route generated by the algorithm is [(5, 0), (8, 1), optimized path with objectives time and distance, the
(4, 2), (4, 3), (5, 4), (4, 5), (5, 6), (5, 7), (6,8), (3, 9)]. distance is 35.00 and the time taken is 41.65.

The final route generated is [(5,0), (5,1), (6,2), (5,3), (5,4),
(5,5), (5,6), (4,7), (4,8), (3,9)]. The initial and final routes are
presented in Figure 3. The evolution of the routes, for an
example run, over the generations is presented in Table 1.
It is evident that the multi-objective model has optimized
the path on both the time and distance parameters while the
single objective model optimized the path on only distance,
hence the cost for time has increased. Overall, the multi-
objective model produces good results for this ship route-
finding problem.
TABLE II
THE ROUTE AND THE COST OF THE ROUTE FOR
SINGLE STAGE MULTI OBJECTIVE MODEL

Generation Route Time Distance

Cost Cost
1 [(5, 0), (6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (5, 50.31 54,68
4), (5, 5), (4, 6), (4, 7), (1, 8),
(3, 9)]
6 [(5, 0), (6, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (5, 39.47 59.30
4), (5, 5), (4, 6), (1, 7), (1, 8),
(3, 9)]
14 [(5, 0), (6, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (4, 34.43 41.92
Fig. 3. Initial and Final routes for single stage single objective 4), (5, 5), (4, 6), (5, 7), (5, 8),
TABLE I (3, 9)]
THE ROUTE AND THE COST OF THE ROUTE FOR 17 [(5, 0), (5, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (5, 29.20 39.21
SINGLE STAGE SINGLE OBJECTIVE MODEL 4), (4, 5), (3, 6), (4, 7), (3, 8),
(3, 9)]
Generation Route Cost
21 [(5, 0), (5, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (4, 29.02 39.22
1 [(5, 0), (8, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (5, 64 4), (4, 5), (4, 6), (5, 7), (5, 8),
4), (5, 5), (4, 6), (4, 7), (1, 8), (3, 9)]
(3, 9)]
5 [(5, 0), (3, 1), (6, 2), (6, 3), (5, 50
4), (4, 5), (3, 6), (4, 7), (3, 8),
(3, 9)]
7 [(5, 0), (5, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (5, 40
4), (4, 5), (4, 6), (4, 7), (5, 8),
(3, 9)]
9 [(5, 0), (5, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (5, 38
4), (4, 5), (3, 6), (4, 7), (3, 8),
(3, 9)]
14 [(5, 0), (5, 1), (6, 2), (5, 3), (5, 38
4), (4, 5), (3, 6), (4, 7), (3, 8),
(3, 9)] Fig. 4. Initial and Final routes for single stage multi objective

B. Single Stage-Multi Objective V. CONCLUSIONS

For the same route considering multiple objectives, the initial
route generated upon running the algorithm is [(5,0), (4,1),
(3,2), (2,3), (3,4), (3,5), (4,6), (7,7), (6,8), (3,9)]. The final
route generated is [(5,0), (4,1), (4,2), (5,3), (4,4), (4,5), (4,6),
(3,7), (2,8), (3,9)].
The initial and final routes are depicted in Figure 4. The
route obtained along with the time and distance over different
generations, for an example run, is presented in Table II.
On comparing the single-objective and multi-objective
models, the following observations are made.
The study presented in this paper verified that the
application of GA to the ship route finding problem yields
significant benefits in terms of both efficiency and
effectiveness. Two models (single-stage single objective and
single-stage multi- objective) are designed and implemented.
The ship routes generated by these models are compared. It is
observed that the multi-objective model is able to produce
better ship routes than the single-objective model.
The results of this study suggest that the use of genetic
algorithms in ship route finding is a promising approach,

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however it warrants further investigation. By incorporating the
insights and findings presented in this paper into future research
efforts, it is possible to design even more sophisticated
algorithms that can effectively balance multiple objectives and
generate highly optimized ship routes in a variety of different
contexts.
VI. LIMITATIONS
The work presented in this paper considered a grid-based
approach, where the path is formed by considering single cell
from each column and connection them. This approach does
not take the ship maneuver into account, i.e., the cell from the
first column can be at the top and the cell from the second
column can be at the bottom, and the ship will not be able
change the direction (as an extreme case). One way to reduce
the maneuvering cost is to increase the grid size from 10 x 10
to 60 x 60, but this in turn increases the run time of the
algorithm.
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