INTEGRATING SIMULATION INTO A WEB-BASED DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR THE COST EFFECTIVE PLANNING OF VESSEL DISMANTLING PROCESSES

Vessel dismantling is a complex process, which requires advanced planning subject to environmentally safe as well as cost and energy effective standards. Aiming to facilitate stakeholders involved in such activities and augment the quality of their related decision making, this paper presents an innovative decision support system that takes into account the diversity of the associated constraints (i.e. available resources, environmental issues, health and safety of the workforce, etc.). The proposed system aids stakeholders make decisions on qualitative issues such as the appropriateness of a disposal methodology or the level of the safety of the workforce in a specific dismantling yard. Being seamlessly integrated with a visual interactive simulation environment, the system facilitates the collaborative design and redesign of dismantling processes.