LNG

C A R R IE R

O IL
TAN K ER SWL

40
FT.

400
FT.

TW O SH IP TY PES W ITH SA M E D R A FT

BOW CUSHION

Bow cushion is experienced strongly when following conditions are met:

1. Proximity to a bank. The bow wave will be more easily dispersed when
the bank is submerged. Bank suction suffers to a lesser extent from loss
in strength when the bank is submerged.
2. The ship must be on a parallel course to the bank. To build up the bow
wave on the side of the bank, the ship must run parallel or close to
parallel to the bank. Bank suction has a much greater tolerance for the
angle between ship and bank.
3. The ship must reach a certain speed to build up a bow wave. In this
respect the ship’s speed is relative to her size, for we must take into
account the ship’s beam and bottom clearance as factors contributing to
the height of the bow wave.
4. The ship must have a large underwater area forward of the pivot point,
which is the case when the ship is in loaded condition. Trim by the head
increases the underwater area forward of the pivot point, and
consequently, accentuates the effect of bow cushion. In combination with
point 3 above, we must also consider that the longitudinal component of
the increased bow wave in shallow water tends to push the pivot point
back, which, in turn, tends to increase lateral area forward of the pivot
point and provides the transverse component of the bow wave with added
 leverage. When a sheer develops the pivot point tends to shift even
farther back, adding again to the force and the leverage of the lateral
resistance forward, intensifying the sheer.

Case Studies:
1. Collision between loaded freighter (proceeding from sea to Amsterdam)
and an approaching vessel in Amsterdam-North Sea Canal.
Findings: The vessel was kept off the centre line of the canal. Required
some starboard rudder all the time to be kept steady. Uncontrollable sheer
towards the entrance of a branch canal on the port side.
Conclusion: On arriving at the entrance of the branch canal, the raised
water level on the port bow dropped off into the branch canal resulting in
predominating pressure of the bow wave on the starboard bow.
2. Collision between deeply-loaded ore carrier proceeding inward & an
approaching vessel in Ymuiden canal.
Findings: The ore carrier had a trim by head of 3 ft. which was being
corrected at the time of accident. The pilot left the centre line of the canal
too early. Once on the starboard side of the canal, the ship took
uncontrollable sheer across the canal and – not with standing both
forward tugs pulling to starboard and full astern on the engine- ran into
the approaching vessel.
Conclusion: The ships with a large lateral underwater area forward of the
pivot point must avoid getting caught in a situation where the bow
cushion will start a sheer, for that sheer is hard to break! Given the right
conditions bow cushion can be embarrassingly strong, the more so since
it is backed up and followed by an increasing effect of suction.
3. Collision in the River Danube at Sulina between Satya Padam carrying
iron ore and at even keel draft and Valerie.
Findings: When the Valerie was sighted, in daylight and good visibility,
coming down the river, the Romanian licensed pilots on two ships agreed
to pass port to port. At this point Satya Padam reportedly lost steering
control and started to sheer to port. The wheel was hard over to stbd and
the engine was on full speed ahead. It took two minutes before the ship’s
head started to come back to stbd. The master of the Satya Padam, who
was paying full attention to the steering problem, noticed suddenly when
the ship pulled out of the sheer that the Valerie, in turn, had taken sheer
across the river and now was trying to pass in front of his ship. The sheer
of the Valerie in fact was a course alteration, made at the request of the
pilot of the Satya Padam on VHF. The pilot of the Satya Padam must
 have strongly believed in steering gear failure, for he left hard stbd
rudder on while he requested his colleague on the other ship to alter
course to port.
Three cables east of milestone 24, where the ships collided, is the outlet
of the Maliuc streamlet, an inlet in the river bank of the Danube into
which the bow cushion of the Satya Padam could drop off and run up.
Conclusion: As the steering had posed no problems until the meeting
with the Valerie, we can assume that the Satya Padam had proceeded in
mid-channel up to then. It was when the Satya Padam had moved over to
starboard side of the channel a few minutes before the collision that the
difficulty in steering was experienced. It must be considered that, at the
time of the sheer , the Satya Padam was down by the head, due to squat.
With her speed close to 10 kts through the water (there was a restriction
to 8 kts) and her deep draft forward, there must have been a significant
bow wave. The drop in bow cushion into the Maliuc stramlet caused the
helmsman to take off starboard rudder that was on to keep the ship to her
starboard side of the channel and probably he did even have to apply port
rudder. In any case the helmsman was obviously unprepared for the
renewed bow cushion effect immediately after the ship passed the Maliuc
streamlet.
The large underwater lateral area forward of the pivot point of deep
drafted vessels makes them susceptible to the effect of bow cushion,
Moreover large overall underwater lateral area gives the deep draft
vessels a relatively smaller rudder area ratio as compared with ships in
light condition.
4. Collision in the Mississippi River between bulk carrier Southwind
heavily laden proceeding upriver and Astros coming downriver.
5. Collision in the River Seine between Japanese tanker Fuyoh Maru in
loaded condition proceeding upriver, and a Greek tanker Vitoria in
ballast, not gasfree, coming downriver on 24th June 1987 halfway
between Le Havre and Rouen.
Six people including the Master and the pilot perished.

(Ref. Capt. H.H. Hooyer in ‘The Nautical institute on pilotage and shiphandling’)

GENERAL POINTS ON INTERACTION

1. Prior to meeting the other vessel in narrow channel, each ship should
remain in the centre of the channel for as long as possible. Failure to do
 so could expose either ship to bank effect, leading to sheer across the
path of the oncoming ship or grounding.
2. Speed should be low to reduce the interactive forces. There is, then,
plenty of reserve power for the use of corrective ‘kicks ahead’.
3. If the ships pass from deep to shallow water at any time during the
manoeuvring, the forces will increase drastically and extreme caution
should be exercised.
4. The smaller of the two ships and tugs, are likely to be the most seriously
affected. Large ships should be aware of this and adjust their speed
accordingly.
5. Pre-emptive and bold corrective action may be required to prevent or
break strong sheers.
6. The engines should be brought to dead slow ahead for the manoeuvre,
particularly turbine or fixed pitch propeller ships, so that power is
instantly available to control the ship with ‘kicks ahead’.
7. On completion of the manoeuvre each ship should regain the channel
centre as quickly as possible to avoid any furtherance of the bank effect.
8. Pilots who are engaged in canal work all the time become very
specialised in this area and their advice should always be sought when in
doubt.
(Ref. Captain R.W.Rowe, author, ‘The Shiphandler’s guide’)

SQUAT
The reduction of underkeel clearance when a vessel is making way through
the water as compared to when she is not making way through the water is
called as Squat.
For full form vessels such as supertankers or OBO vessels (block co-eff. >
0.7), change of trim due to squat will be by head whereas in case of
passenger liners or container vessels (block co-eff. < 0.7) change of trim due
to squat will be by stern. This is assuming that they are on even keel when
stationary (i.e. not making way through the water).
Vessels trimmed by the stern when stationary (not making way through the
water) will trim further by the stern due to squat. Vessels trimmed by the
head when stationary (not making way through the water) will trim further
by the head due to squat. This is consistent with Bernoulli’s streamline flow
theory.
 Casualties of excessive Squat

Herald of Free Enterprise RORO vessel 06/03/1987

QE II Passenger liner 07/08/1992
Sea Empress Supertanker 15/02/1996
Diamond Grace 2,60,000t dwt VLCC at 02/07/1997
Tokyo Harbour

Ship type Typical CB,fully

B Ship type Typical CB,fully
B

loaded loaded
ULCC 0.850 General Cargo 0.700
Supertanker 0.825 Passenger liner 0.625
Oil tanker 0.800 Container ship 0.575
Bulk carrier 0.750 Coastal tug 0.500

SIGNS OF SHALLOW WATER EFFECT

(One or more of the following)
1. Wave making increases, especially at the forward end of the ship.
2. Vessel becomes more sluggish to manoeuvre. A pilot’s quote, ‘almost
like being in porridge’.
3. Draft indicators on the bridge or echosounders will indicate changes in
end drafts.
4. Propeller RPM indicator will show a decrease. If the ship is in ‘open
water’ conditions, i.e. without breadth restrictions, this decrease may be
upto 15% of the service RPM in deep water. If the ship is in a confined
channel, this decrease in RPM can be up to 20% of the service RPM.
5. There will be drop in speed. If the ship is in open water conditions this
decrease may be up to 30%. If the ship is in a confined channel such as a
river or a canal then this decrease can be up to 60%.
6. The ship may start to vibrate suddenly. This is because of the entrained
water effects causing the natural hull frequency to become resonant with
another frequency associated with the vessel.
7. Any rolling, pitching and heaving motions will be reduced as the ship
moves from deep water to shallow water conditions. This is because of
the cushioning effects produced by the narrow layer of water under the
bottom shell of the vessel.
8. The appearance of the mud could suddenly show in the water around the
ship’s hull say in the event of passing over a raised shelf or a submerged
wreck.
9. Turning circle diameter (TCD) increases. TCD in shallow water could
increase 100%.
10. Stopping distances and stopping times increase, compared to when a
vessel is in deep waters.

CB X S0.81 X V2.08
Maximum Squat = metres.
20

CB = Block co-eff.
S = Blockage factor = Submerged cross section area of ship
Submerged cross section area of channel
= bxd
BxD
where b & d : breadth & draft of ship and B & D : breadth & depth of
the channel resp’ly
V = Vessel’s speed relative to the water, in knots.

If the vessel is in open shallow water, B= Breadth of the channel is taken as

B = {7.7 + 20 (1 – CB )2 } X b, known as the width of influence.
B

The width of influence ranges from 8.25b for supertankers, to about 9.5b for
general cargo ships to about 11.75 ship breadths for container ships.

The presence of another ship in a narrow channel may cause the squats
to double in value as they pass/ cross the other vessel.

SHORT-CUT FORMULAE

1. Maximum Squat = CB x VK2

B metres for open water conditions only
100 where D/d = 1.1 to 1.4.

2. Maximum Squat = CB x VK2

B metres for confined channels only
50 where S = 0.100 to 0.265.
 CONSTANT RADIUS TURN

The object of ocean navigation is basically to find a ship’s position. In

coastal and confined waters, another dimension is added-the margins for
errors are smaller, and actual ship handling must be integrated with the pure
navigational disciplines. In restricted waters, the traditional philosophy of
position fixing at intervals in terms of a point-e.g. cross bearings, bearing
and distance off a reference object, or latitude/ longitude- is no longer a
prime objective.
In order to maintain safe positioning at all times, procedures to keep a
continuous check on the cross track error must be used. Accurate cross track
monitoring is as important when turning as on straight courses. These
requirements make it obvious that a transit in restricted waters must be well
planned, since according to the nature of the environment , time will not
permit navigation in traditional sense-i.e. fixing the position and setting a
new course.
1. Rate of turn indicators (Rate Gyros) are installed mainly on large ferries
(car/ passenger) running on time on a schedule between two ports in
confined waters (e.g. between Sweden and Finland), ships trading on
inland waters/ rivers and canals, large tankers, container vessels, and in
ships with the bridge in extremely forward position.
Rate gyros are very useful for turn control as they can sense/ measure the
ship’s angular velocity much more accurately than is possible by the
human eye. Some rate gyros are equipped with separate gyroscopes and
others receive their input from the gyrocompass. The sensitivity of the
rate gyros can be as low as 0.50 per min.
2. A type of autopilot, designed for ships navigating on the rivers and canals
of Europe is known as the river-pilot. The river-pilot is normally operated
by a tiller type lever with two alternative functions. One function is as in
ordinary tiller steering, but the second and most important function for
precise turn control is the automatic mode when a tiller order will cause
the river pilot to apply a rudder angle to build up quickly a rate of turn
(ROT) to the value ordered by the tiller. This (ROT) will then be
maintained automatically until the tiller steering is changed. In order to
maintain a straight course, a turn rate of 00 / min is ordered. Should the
ship deviate from the desired course due to some outside force, the course
must be adjusted manually with trim setting or with a new ROT order.
Turns controlled by a river-pilot will be more accurate than those done
manually, even with the aid of rate gyro.
3. Radius steering unit : A self adaptive auto pilot which will both maintain
a straight compass course and perform accurate pre-selected constant
radius turns is the Kockums Steermaster 2000. The input is compass
heading and ROT derived from the compass. As the rudder angle
required to maintain a straight course or a constant rate of turn depends to
a certain degree on the water depth and the ship’s speed, input is taken
from the echo sounder and a doppler log. The speed input is also needed
to produce a constant radius and with a dual-axis doppler log in bottom
track, any drift caused by wind or current can be automatically corrected.
The navigators controls are a joystick to select a new course and push
buttons to select the turn radius. The radius can be changed at all times,
including when a turn is in progress. A standard feature of the steermaster
is the override which in the case of a malfunction of the steermaster or
the helmsman will give the navigator immediate direct access to the
steering gear.
Many of the large ferries in the demanding traffic between Finland and
Sweden and many other Scandinavian passenger and cargo ferries are
equipped with a radius steering unit. A number of deep sea vessels also
have the equipment but, with the exception of the ferries and the car
carrier company Wallenius and OK tankers, the training for the masters
and officers in the use of the equipment has been poor. Many use the
steering unit only as a conventional autopilot to steer a straight course
and switch over to manual in narrow waters.
Experiences from large ferries and car carriers have shown that with an
advanced form of radius steering unit, such as the Kockums Steermaster
2000, it is possible to keep the cross track error at the exit of a turn to less
than 20 m, even in very adverse weather.

COMPARISON :

CONSTANT RUDDER ANGLE CONSTANT RADIUS TURN

TURN
1. Larger drift angle with a
corresponding loss of speed
2. A large rudder angle is needed
to steady the vessel on new
course
3. Uncertainty of ship’s position
during the turn
Lesser drift angle & hence lesser
loss of speed
At the end of the turn, the new
course can be steadied with lesser
rudder angle
Proper control of ship’s posn.
during the turn
4. Higher fuel consumption due Lesser fuel consumption, with
to zig zagging with excessive use reserve rudder and engine power
of helm. available

Constant radius turn technique is based on the following formula:

Rate of turn (Degrees/ minute) = 57.3 x V

60 R
where V= Ship’s speed over ground, in knots and,
R= Radius of the turn in nautical miles.

The distance of wheel over point from the point where the turn is to become
effective is usually taken as one ship’s length but it is recommended to find
it out by some practice turns on the type of ship one is serving.

Following formula can be used to find the distance of wheel over line from
the new course line and the same can be used to set the parallel indexing line
or the line of turn for giving the wheel over order:

Distance of wheel over line from the new course line =

F sin θ + R (1 – cos θ) where,
F = one ship’s length (usually), R = Radius of the turn, θ = Change of
course in degrees between initial course and final course