OpenNAOE offers open textbooks and simulation tools for naval architecture and ocean engineering. The books are written for self-study and teaching, and the tools, built on open-source software, run in a web browser or on your computer. All of it is free to read and use, and the books may be shared and adapted under an open licence.
How OpenNAOE is made
Licences
The text, figures and data written for OpenNAOE are published under CC BY 4.0, and the site code and calculators under the MIT licence. The simulation tools are free to use under the OpenNAOE Tool Licence; their code is not open. Third-party components keep their own licences, and the parts of a tool derived from GPL software such as OpenFOAM stay under the GPL, with their source provided.
Original material, credited sources
The explanations, worked examples, exercises and figures are original, or adapted with attribution from public-domain works. Books, papers and standards are used for research and checking, and are cited. Third-party text and figures are included only if they are in the public domain or licensed under CC0 or CC BY, and third-party data only if they are in the public domain or under CC0, in each case with their source and licence; other material is cited and linked.
Checked before publication
Every equation, number and technical claim is checked against a cited reference, a hand calculation or benchmark data before publication. Each chapter shows the date of its last revision.
Free tools, open formats
The tools are free to use, are built on open-source software and read open formats such as STL, OBJ and tables of offsets. They run on the user's device, and input files are not uploaded.
Reproducible and citable
Each tool run records its inputs, settings and software versions so that it can be repeated. Each release of a book or tool is archived on Zenodo with a DOI, so that the exact version used can be cited.
Accessibility
The pages are designed to meet the WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines at level AA. Figures have text descriptions, equations are rendered as text that screen readers can read, and all functions can be used from the keyboard. Charts and diagrams do not rely on colour alone; curves and regions are also labelled or distinguished by line style, so that they remain readable for colour-blind readers and in black-and-white print.
News
New books and tools, major updates and collaborations.
2026-11-03
OpenNAOE goes public
The first public release includes the book Hydrostatics & Stability and five simulation tools: Hydrostatics & stability, Hull Resistance CFD, Seakeeping, Manoeuvring and Resistance & propulsion. Further books are in preparation.
Get in touch
Corrections, suggestions and offers of collaboration are welcome through the feedback page.
OpenNAOE is an independent project started and maintained by Mohammed Abdul Hannan.