Analysis of Status and Development Trends of Vessel Replenishment at Sea

Replenishment at sea constitutes a critical capability for extending the endurance, self-sustainability, and strategic mobility of ships. To systematically review the research advances in ship replenishment at sea and to facilitate the development of future long-range logistics infrastructure, focusing on the research status of ship replenishment at sea, the advantages, limitations, and the applicable scenarios of four primary replenishment modalities, which are longitudinal, alongside, vertical, and parallel replenishment are systematically analyzed. Subsequently, the developmental trends and distinguishing characteristics of replenishment platforms employed by major maritime powers are introduced. Furthermore, practical challenges inherent in operation of ship replenishment at sea are discussed. The focus of current replenishment technologies and the emerging developmental trends are analyzed. The analysis indicates that future replenishment at sea will develop in the direction of automation, informatization, and unmanned operations, with the establishment of distributed replenishment networks featuring manned-unmanned collaborative architectures identified as the pivotal pathway for enhancing long-range logistical support capabilities. These findings provide a reference for the construction and development of subsequent replenishment capability at sea.