Safety and Environmental Considerations in Tanker Structure Design: A Topology Optimization Study

Abstract The structure of a tanker ship, particularly in the cargo hold area, plays a vital role in ensuring operational safety, economic efficiency, and environmental protection. Conventional design methods, which are often highly conservative, tend to use excessive amounts of material, especially in the midship cargo area. This results in increased ship weight, production costs, and fuel consumption. In response to these issues, this research applies topology optimization, an advanced computational design method, to achieve an efficient distribution of material within the structural domain. The study focuses on the midship section of a 17,500 DWT tanker by minimizing structural weight while ensuring that strength requirements remain within the limits set by the Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia (BKI). The results highlight that Variation 4, which retains 80% of stiffeners only on the bulkhead transverse and the hopper plate, provides the most optimal solution. This variation reduces the weight of one section from 14.305 tons to 13.647 tons and decreases the weight of one cargo compartment from 608.78 tons to 602.94 tons, corresponding to a 4.06% weight reduction. These findings confirm that targeted material reduction in non-critical stiffeners significantly enhances structural efficiency while maintaining safety and classification compliance.