Due to recent legislative changes and shifts in global markets, the task of ship design has grown considerably more complex. The integration of groundbreaking technologies, such as remotely controlled or autonomous vessels, poses additional challenges during the concept design phase, primarily due to a lack of familiarity and experience with these technologies. Simultaneously, these advancements make designing a vessel that can consistently meet its objectives throughout its entire life cycle increasingly difficult.

In the early stages of the design process, designers often face the challenge of making critical decisions without fully understanding their potential consequences. This situation is compounded by the increasing costs associated with these decisions and their influence on design freedom. Consequently, the conceptual design stages become especially crucial, as making changes later in the shipbuilding process can result in significant cost escalation for the project.
Considering the various factors impacting the ship design process, there arises a necessity for a novel methodology empowering designers to assess the operational capabilities and performance of conceptual designs during the early stages of ship design.

The presented report introduces the project titled 'Validating Operational Scenarios Through Simulation' and presents findings from a literature review on the utilization of simulation in early-stage design processes.
The introduction chapter begins with an initial description of the problem to be addressed, introduces the involved company, and outlines the motivation behind the project. Following the introduction, the results of the literature review are presented.
The second section aims to answer the first set of research questions by examining the current implementation of simulation software within design processes and presenting available options for software to be utilized in the project. The process of selecting the software is then outlined, along with the conclusions drawn from the research conducted.
Subsequently, the formulated methodology is described, containing all steps necessary to structure the workflow during evaluation. The following chapter details the anticipated method of introducing the formulated method into existing design processes, including the main method of evaluation through simulation and the method of integration, using a case study example.
Finally, the last chapter concludes the report by providing considerations from the entire process and presenting recommendations for potential improvements of the formulated process.