Objectives   Many factors should be taken into consideration in the selection of a fin stabilizer for a polar cruise ship, such as environmental adaptation and device performance, and it should not be chosen via subjective judgment. To this end, a comprehensive fin stabilizer selection and evaluation method based on a combined weighting-TOPSIS (technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution) method is proposed.

  Methods   The selection principle of a fin stabilizer for a polar cruise ship with a gross tonnage of 8 035 is confirmed according to the PC6 guidelines for polar class ships, and the initial area of the fin stabilizer is calculated using the experimental mathematical model. Three design schemes are put forward for the fin stabilizer. A selection and evaluation index system is built by consulting experts, including five primary indexes and fourteen secondary indexes. The weights of the indexes are determined using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method (EWM), and the TOPSIS method is introduced to calculate the degree of closeness between the alternative and ideal solutions.

  Results   According to the ranking results, Design Scheme 1 (Aquarius A100 fin stabilizer) is selected as the optimal fin stabilizer for meeting the decision-makers' requirements.

  Conclusions   The method proposed in this study has valuable guiding significance for the selection of fin stabilizers for polar cruise ships by reducing the blindness of the shipbuilders and decision-makers.