Methods For Designing Ships Hull A General Overview

The design of a ship hull is based on the specific geometric definition of a hull which
influences the hydrostatics, general arrangement, strength and aesthetics of the vessel.

A naval architect has to apply his combined knowledge of designing and draftsmanship
to arrive at the optimum hull form. An important aspect of preliminary design is to create
a set of faired ship lines.
At this initial stage of design, the naval architect has to develop a set of ship lines of
sufficient accuracy to be used for later design calculations from relatively sparse
information. The resulting lines plan must not violate any of the implicit, and sometimes
intuitive rules of hull form design with respect to fairness and practicability.

Mathematical methods for ship form design, especially when supported by computer
systemswith interactive graphics capabilities and skilfully applied by experienced
designers, have become competitive to conventional graphical techniques with respect
to time and cost.

In a ship design office the standard design for the development of ship lines can be
done from one among the following ways:
 1. Geometrical hull form parameters.

2. Single parent design.

3. Multiple parent design.

The method of design used in the above three cases are referred as:

1. Form parameter approach.

2. Line distortion approach.

3. Standard series approach.

Form Parameter Approach:

As the name suggest this methods creates lines from the specific values of the
parameters that define the significant curves of the hull form unlike the line distortion or
standard series which require a parent design. Initially, the naval architect has to decide
the type of fore and aft body so that the profile outline can be drawn. After determining
the profile outline, a series of curves has to be drawn in order to design the initial hull
form. These curves include the sectional area curve, design waterline curve etc. Each
basic curve have been developed from its own form parameter input.
To start with the preliminary sectional area curve, one has to determine the midship
sectional area first. This is done by choosing a suitable midship area coefficient.

Next step is to determine the suitable Longitudinal Center of Buoyancy (LCB) position
from the hydrodynamic point of view. Sectional area can also be obtained by drawing a
trapezium and smoothening it to give the desired shape.

In a similar manner, a half breadth plan of the Load Waterline Length (LWL) can be
drawn to satisfy Area of water line and longitudinal centre of flotation (LCF) requirement.
Also, the designer should keep in mind the fact that the length of run and entrance on
LWL are less than the length of run and entrance on the Sectional Area Curve.
Another important characteristics of the LWL is the half angle of entrance which is a
function of prismatic coefficient for many hull forms. Other basic curves include the deck
outline, the main consideration being the deck area and the type of flare above LWL.

The final step would be to integrate the basic design curves by satisfying all the
conditions of areas and LWL requirements, this is accompanied by an iterative process
and surface fairing is done to generate the three dimensional hull surface.

Line Distortion Approach:

It is one of the most common methods adopted in design offices to derive a set of lines
plan. This is done by making some minor changes to the form parameters of the parent
ship design. The lines distortion approach aims at arriving at a new lines plan by
moderate extrapolation from the parent design by suitable mathematical operations.

For the transformation of a basic ship form to a desired ship form two methods of
computation is used.
In the first method, the fore and the aft part of the ship were taken and transformed to
get the design to their desired block coefficients and the second method, the correct
block co-efficient and the longitudinal position of the center of buoyancy of the whole
ship are used for the desired transformation. The first method is especially useful, if only
the form of the fore body or the form of the after body is to be changed.

Line distortion method is fairly successful in dealing with moderate changes in limited
number of form parameters. However it is limited to certain number of reasonable
shapes and degenerate when pushed to extreme changes. To change one form
parameter independently serves no useful purpose beyond a reasonable limit. Other
form parameters have also to be varied in a coordinated way. The distortion method
itself does not provide such co-ordination. When applied by a skilful designer it has the
potential of achieving rather complex changes.

Standard Series Approach:

It is similar to the line distortion approach but differs in deriving its parameters from not
one but multiple parent designs. This requires a rich knowledge of the systematic hull
form series. This method is useful for the generation of series of hull forms for
resistance and propulsion tests. The interpolation method within this body of information
is generally linear, but higher order curves can also be used. The range of variation in
the series is however limited, which means that the forms that can be deduced from the
series are also limited and only modest extrapolation is possible.

Basically, the designer has limited possibilities and his outcome design will have more
dependent variables than independent variables. The standard series encompasses
only some of the simpler variations in the hull like fullness and location of Longitudinal
Centre of Buoyancy.

The main advantage of this standard series approach lies in its simplicity. In many
feasibility studies of the early design stage it is sufficient to have a rough preliminary
lines design that approximates the principal form characteristics desired. Such a design
may serve as a dummy for several design calculations until a more elaborate lines plan
is produced.

Lines Development:

The following steps are involved in the lines development process

1. Draw boundary lines which include elevation and plan of the keel, stem, stern,
deck and chine lines if any.

2. Drawing of sectional area curve as per requirement. This step may not be
necessary while drawing planning boats and other small crafts.

3. Drawing load water lines satisfying all requirement. Again, this may not be
necessary for ships with chine form.

Stern Forms:

During the design process of the stern section of the hull the following points should be
considered

1. Low resistance should be ensured by avoiding rough surfaces like weld marks or
ensuring no sudden change in the surface.

2. Avoid any kind of vibration.

3. High Propulsive efficiency this ensures uniform flow of water around the hull and
good hull efficiency coefficient.

4. The choice of the shape of the top side stern section should be decided on the
basis of Froude number

The reduction in power for transom stern compared with cruiser stern increases
with the Froude number.
Forward Section Shape:

There are basically two forward section shapes i.e, the V shape or the U shape.
Each shape has its own advantages and disadvantages, let us look into a few of them
individually.

Advantages of V sections:

1. Better sea keeping abilities in terms of reserve buoyancy and reduced slamming
effects.

2. Small wetted surface and lower steel weight.

2. Greater local breadth of the design waterline: associated with this is a greater
moment of inertia of the waterplane and a higher center of buoyancy. Both effects
increase the value of KM.

4. Less curved surface, hence, ease of production.

5. In ballast condition of a given displacement, the wedge form provides a greater

draught and hence a decrease in block co-efficient. At a smaller draught the
decreased block co-efficient leads to lower resistance than in the case with
equivalent U-form. Also less ballast is needed to achieve the desired immersion.

Advantages of U sections:

1. V sections in the fore-body have a higher wave-making resistance with lower

frictional resistance. This leads to higher overall resistance than U sections in a
particular range of Froude numbers from 0.18 to 0.25.

The presence of computer aided ship form generation software has made the process
of designing much simpler and smoother compared to what was done a few decades
ago.
The basic concepts still remains the same .i.e, determining the basic form parameters
and generating the rest of the rest of the lines plan from it. However, the computer
merely helps the designer as a guide and also as a slave doing the required
calculations, but does not replace him.

Whats The Importance Of Bulbous Bow Of Ships?

One thing that often catches the eye of a common man regarding most of the ships, is
the bulb like projection at the forward end of the ship, often below the waterline. There is
no doubt in the fact that at some point of your life, you have questioned yourself
regarding the reason behind the presence of this structure. Well, since it generally
resembles the shape of the bulb, and always placed at the bow of the ship, it is known
as a Bulbous Bow.

Lets look back to about a hundred years from now. Remember Titanic? You must have
observed it didnt have a bulbous bow. But try having a look at the bows of modern
cruise ships, container ships, LNG carriers, research vessels, etc. All of them are
characterized with a bulbous bow. Not only monohull ships, today almost even
catamarans are equipped with a bulbous bows rather than straight bows. Why?

Wake pattern generated by a small boat. Photograph: Edmont/ wikipedia (Fig.1)

When a ship surges, it generates its own Kelvin waves (the ones you see around a ship
when it sails in open sea) as shown in Figure 1.

Now visualize it this way- the waves are basically travelling forms of energy in water
medium. Where did this energy come from? In other words, who energized the water
particles to form these waves?

It is the moving mass of the ship that does this job. Note the word moving. The ships
movement is powered by its propulsion system. A part of the energy delivered by the
engine goes into rotating the propeller, and in turn, a fraction of that thrust generated by
the propeller comes handy in actually propelling the ship. Where does the rest of the
energy go? Remember, water particles were energized to transmit waves? Thats your
answer. This is also called Wave Making Resistance of a ship.

Now, why are we discussing this, and what does this have to do with a bulbous bow?
Read on.

Bow wave (Courtesy: Titanic Motion Picture) Figure 2

Consider a ship with a straight bow (for example, Titanic). As the ship surges forward,
the water particles move towards the stern along the entire length of the ship. But what
about that water particle which is incident right at the centreline of the stem? Its
instantaneous velocity is zero, which in scientific terms, is known as a Stagnation Point.
If you recall Bernoullis Equation, the pressure at a stagnation point will be higher. So
pressure of the water particles at the bow is higher, thus giving rise to the crest of a
wave. This wave is called the bow wave, since it is generated due to the movement of
the bow through the water, as shown in Figure 2. So with a straight bow, there is always
a wave continuously formed, with its crest at the bow. Thus, it is evident, that we are
wasting a part of the engine power in generating this wave. What if this effect of wave
making can be reduced? If yes, then how?

If we introduce another discontinuity (any structure in the ship below the waterline which
disturbs the laminar flow is regarded as a discontinuity) below the waterline at the bow,
in front of the stem of the ship, the discontinuity will itself give rise to another wave at its
foremost point. Since the stem is still at the waterline, it will generate normal bow
waves. What if we can design the shape and position of the discontinuity in such a way
so that the bow wave and the wave created by the discontinuity result in a destructive
interference? (Refer to Figure 3) Well, that is pretty much the principle behind the
design of a bulbous bow. The destructive interference results in reduced wave making
of the ship, and which further reduces the wave making drag of the hull form.
 Fig 3. Bow wave and Wave generated by bulb, both out of phase

In the preliminary stages of development of the bulb, the primary mission of the design
was to reduce the wave making drag. But as we moved on, we couldnt stop delving into
more interesting aspects as discussed below:

Wave making is a significant characteristic of finer hullforms. That is why, you notice
prominent Kelvin waveforms in cruise ships, liners, yachts, and naval cruisers. If you
notice a bulk carrier or an oil tanker (fuller hullforms), it is evident that these hullforms
do not show prominent Kelvin wave patterns. Why? Because the waterline width at the
stem itself is so large (or in other words, the discontinuity in flow is higher) that the
pressure rises to a level such that the bow wave height exceeds the threshold upto
which a wave holds its properties. In this case, the wave breaks right at the bow itself
even before it travels along the ship length.

So, are fuller hullforms more energy efficient in this respect? No. Do fuller hullforms
have high wave making resistance? No. Do fuller hullforms have high wave breaking
resistance? Yes. With this application, bulbs were also introduced in bulkers and tankers
to reduce their wave breaking resistance.

The different types of bulbs according to their shapes, positions and orientations are as
shown below :

Faired in bow. ( Picture by Danny Cornelissen from the portpictures.nl / Wikipedia)

Ram Bow (Image Credits : S*anner 06n2ey / wikipedia)
Ram bow with ram far below waterline (Photograph by Hammelmann Oelde / Wikipedia)

Ram bow close to the waterline ( Image credits: Jens Mayer from Mannheim, Germany/
wikipedia)
 Bulb with a knuckle ( Image Credits :MKFI/Military of Finland / Wikipedia)

The position of the bulb significantly affects the phase difference between the bow wave
and the bulb wave. The volume of the bulb is a deciding factor of the amplitude of the
resultant wave.

Another advantage of the bulb is that it reduces the dynamic effects of pitch motion of a
ship. In most ships, the interior of the bulb is used as fore-peak ballast tank. In case of
high pitching, the forepeak tank is often ballasted to reduce the effect of pitching.

How? Well, the time period of pitching is directly proportional to the longitudinal distance
of weights from the LCG of the ship. When the fore-peak is ballasted, it increases
weight at a larger distance from the LCG of the ship (which in most ideal cases is abaft
the midship). In other words, the pitch radius of gyration increases, therefore increasing
the pitch period of the ship. Increased period of pitching results in less dynamic effects
of pitch motion.
In case of ice navigation, the bulb allows broken ice to glide along the hull with its wet
side against the hull. The wet side of the ice having less friction coefficient, reduces the
overall drag on the ship.

Bulbous bows have also been advantageous in housing bow thrusters, as can be seen
in modern ships with bow thruster units. In naval ships that use high frequency
underwater acoustics like SONAR, bulbous bows act as a protective housing, in
addition to its positive effects of drag reduction.

Sonar Dome Bow Image credits: bigredvolvos.co.uk

After repeated model testing procedures of wide range of hullforms and bulb shapes, it
has been found that bulbs are not efficient at all service speeds (relate it to Froude
numbers). In very low Froude numbers, bulbous bows have found to increase the drag.
Wonder why? Because a bulb is only effective when it makes its own wave, along with
the bow wave. But at very low Froude numbers, wave making hardly occurs. But the
bulb still being below the waterline, increases the total wetted surface area of the ship,
therefore contributing to increase in its skin friction resistance.

Nose Jobs For Ships Reason Behind Retrofitting Bulbous Bow

We have discussed about the importance of the bulb shaped structure at the ships
bow called the bulbous bow in our previous article. These huge protruding structures
are so designed and fitted to reduce the drag and wave making resistance on a
seagoing vessel.

It is reported that large ships with conventional clipper bows can have 12-15% more fuel
efficiency when coupled with a bulbous bow. Moreover, seakeeping characteristics have
also improved inclusion of bulbous bow in the design (reduction in pitching, improved
buoyancy of the fore part).
 However, there are certain conditions that determine
whether a bulbous bow would improve the fuel efficiency.

When a ship sails, it generates waves by imparting energy to the water particles around
it. There are layers of fluid around the ships body and certain parts of the ship are
responsible for this system of waves generated as a result of the abrupt curvature at
the ships stem, owing to the rise in pressure. This is because the ship is not stationary
and the motion across the viscous fluid layers creates differences in pressure at various
points some regions of positive pressure and some negative, ultimately giving rise to
two wave systems, broadly, the transverse and the divergent wave systems.

Now, when a bulbous bow is included in the ships design, the waves are generated in
front of the bow. For a ship without a bulbous bow, the waves would have formed at the
stem and the ship will have to overcome these wave crests which become higher with
increasing speed. The bulbous bow waves form slightly forward of these crests. If at a
certain speed the trough of this system almost coincides with the crest of the normal
bow wave, the bulbous bow is successful in achieving its aim.
 The various bow configurations to choose from for possible modification. (Reference:
Practical Ship Design by D.G.M. Watson)
The phenomenon in action where the steep waves at the bow are cancelled is called
destructive interference; a wave phenomenon involving the interference of waves in
opposite phase. This is how the vessel with a bulbous bow running at optimal speed is
able to keep the water at the fore end relatively calm as opposed to a normal clipper
bow.
Three main hull parameters are of importance here block coefficient, length/beam
ratio and the beam/draft ratio. The block coefficients vary over a large range and so
design charts are available for the same.

The combination of Froude number/Block Coefficient at which a bulbous bow will be of

any advantage. (Reference: Practical Ship Design by D.G.M. Watson)
The graph shown above is used to decide whether a bulb would be able to bring down
the overall resistance of a vessel or not. The Watson and Gilfillan line on this plot is an
indication for the same and superimposition of this line on the various observations in
the plot give us some idea. First, the vessels having finer forms (C B < 0.6) and operating
at higher speeds (Froude Number, Fn >0.3) will benefit from the addition of a bulb. So
will ships having much fuller forms (0.725 < CB < 0.825). However, bulbous bows can
offer advantages on ships of all block coefficients provided they are over-driven and
are not too fine for the speed at which they operate (Remember the length/beam
ratios?).

Bulbous bows come in a range of shapes and sizes tailoring to the needs of the parent
vessel. However, a broad classification refers to whether a bulb has been faired with
respect to the hull or there exists a steep curvature with respect to the stem line, which
is the case with an added bulb. The added bulb is easier to manufacture and
integrate. It also provides good results when compared to a faired bulb.

Some of the physical modifications in nose jobs are optimisation of the bulbs volume,
centre of volume extended vertically along with longitudinal extension. Basically the bulb
shape is modified into what is called a reverse pear-shaped section and this works well
for working drafts below design drafts. The waterlines of the bulb nose are required to
be streamlined but not circular to avoid the possible separation of water flow around it.

Image Credits: cma-cgm.com

Today, research is being done on using polymer or thermosetting plastics for the highly
complex bulb designs since a ships bulb is not exposed to high heat in normal working
conditions and such materials are easier to work with than steel.
Slow Steaming and Bow Design

Slow steaming is a strategy which is used by several shipping companies to improve

fuel efficiency. The basic principle here is to operate the ships at a fraction of their rated
working power with a certain reduction in speed to achieve savings in the exceptionally
high fuel expenses. These savings are capable of offsetting the reduction in propulsive
efficiency.

Then, there came certain provisions to accommodate the slow steaming strategy such
as redesign of propellers, introduction of slow steaming kits and ship nose jobs,
particularly in container vessels. Sometimes, removing the bulbous of a vessel and
reverting to the good old clipper bow is also a feasible option.

Now when nose jobs were being considered a viable option, a shipping market, where
time means money, immediately latched onto it- the container shipping industry. Since
ship nose jobs can involve replacing the bulbous bows of ships for better performance
in slow steaming environments, today container shipping companies such as Maersk
Line are leading from the front in replacing the nose of their vessels. Almost a dozen
nose jobs have been done by now which claim to have gained fuel savings of around
5% which is huge for the size of container vessels in use. Even the payback period for
the expenditure behind a nose-job is estimated to be less than a year.

While there are benefits with modified ship bulbous bows providing fuel savings, there
are other advantages too. Ship nose jobs have been verified to have reduced
CO2 emissions by around 23% (NYK Group) over a period of 6 months, eventually
leading to savings in bunker consumption.

A naval architect may design a vessel for a certain design speed. But, it would not hurt
to do some market research and find out the operating speed and engine operating
ratings for such vessels so that the bow operation and other elements of the design can
accommodate itself (for optimal efficiency) within the current shipping trends.

Types of Bow Designs Used For Ships

Think of the most beautiful ship you might have ever seen, imagined, or lets say the
one which happened to capture your imagination the most. It goes to say without
mention that one feature of ships which never ceases to fascinate is The Bow.

The foremost part of the ship is part aesthetics and part science. Your ship travels in a
medium which provides considerable drag as compared to air. Now, this requires the
design to be such that the components of ship resistance are kept less. Especially, in
the case of ships with fuller forms, components of Wave Breaking Resistance become
significant, while ships with a slender and a more curved form have less Wave Making
Resistance.
Fortunately, these can be controlled by how the water and waves interact with the ship
at entry at the fore end. The ship bow is where the fore part of the ship first comes in
contact with the water as far as your design waterline is considered.

Bow wave
Looking at the different Ship Bow Designs in existence today, it seems that most of the
shapes possible and a combination of two or more of them have been tried out.
However, newer designs have emerged and older lesser used designs have often been
tried out with certain changes after extensive analysis.

Still, broadly speaking, some of the bow design types are:

The Bulbous Bow

A Normal Bow without a Bulb

 Other Special Bows

The Plumb, the Clipper and the Spoon

A normal bow, as what we would call, has developed from its predecessor which was a
vertical bow. The angle at which the ship stem makes with the waterline is called
the rake. A vertical, or unraked bow having a straight edge is known as a plumb bow.
These bows have maximum waterline besides an X-Bow or an Inverted Bow. This
length of the waterline allows for a greater hull speed.

Bow rakes are used in conjunction with flares (Remember I mentioned about imagining
your ship? I guess you wont forget the outward stretching hull form at the top, this is
what we call flaring). Flaring has its own benefits like keeping water off the decks, and
also eases the pitching motions. Some raking also sets up what are called Crumple
Zones allowing safety against collisions before submerged portion comes in contact
with it. Stability-wise, it raises the Centre of Buoyancy, which in turn increases the GM
one of the pillars of ship stability. Traditionally these have been called the Clippers.

Like the name suggests, a Spoon Bow resembles a spoon by giving a concave
appearance at the stem and deck line. These forms often have chining and curvature at
the waterline creating their characteristic wake pattern, bringing Wave Making
Resistance into the picture.
 Image Credits: Ynhockey / Wikipedia
Bulbous Bow

A very familiar unit in bow sections of almost all seagoing cargo ships and vessels with
fuller forms is The Bulbous Bow. This staple of ship designs today was said to have
been discovered rather than being invented. Military towing tests in USA showed that for
a boat model having a torpedo discharge pipe extending forward also lowered the
resistance. The first civil ships were seen in the 1930s.
Bulbous Bows are studied using their own form characteristics and these might spring
up in your ship resistance and powering calculations so you might want to consider
some of them like the shape of the section, area ratios, length of the projection and the
like.

The Bulbous Bow can reduce slamming on your ship and have the same effect as a
normal bow in a ballasted condition if a sharply tapering bulb section is used.
Depending upon your ship form as mentioned above, the Bulb axis is also important as
it affects your wave influence at entry, and if you keep your axis such that it slopes
downwards stern, it will allow better flow characteristics. Ships with fuller forms have
high wave breaking resistance, and this element which eats away your propulsive
efficiency, can be greatly reduced by using a Bulbous Bow with a sharply downward
tapering water-plane. These Bows also allow a better recovery of energy by the
propeller as energy losses due to vortices at the fore end are minimised.

Parabolic and Cylindrical Bows

Sometimes designers consider designing vessels with blunt stems as opposed to the
sharp nature of the bow section. Here is the Parabolic Bow, which resembles the
mathematical curve, the Parabola.

Now, recall some high school math, the semi minor axis of the ellipse is what would be
the beam of the ship. Sometimes only designing a parabolic shape for a ship hull is not
enough, you have to see to the flow around the hull and for this, give it a typical rounded
form like a normal round bilged hull. Parabolic Bows may be combined with Bulbs to
take the Wave Breaking Resistance into account as these are popular in fuller form
designs and are being used in Bulk Carriers today.
 Parabolic Bow. Image Reference: Ship Design for Efficiency and Economy
The closest cousin to these are the cylindrical ship bows which are also designed for
fuller forms at design waterlines and are ideal for use in fully loaded conditions. The
Cylindrical Bows can have minimal Wave Making Resistance if designed with proper
attention to the bluntness of form and stem edge at different drafts.

The Axe Bow

While an axe does its job, cutting wood, or maybe something as obvious, the ship bow
bearing resemblance to it has its own characteristic features. This design usually has a
vertical stem line coupled with a long, deep and narrow fore portion of the hull,
somewhat like an axe. This shape allows it to cut through water, allowing it to pass
easily through waves with less pitching as opposed to a normal bow. The lower portion
of the fore end of the hull, called the forefoot rarely emerges out of water and hence the
vessel is less susceptible to slamming also.

Image Credits: US Navy

On the other side, certain manoeuvring aspects need to be taken to account, a vessel
with an Axe Bow requires more rudder motion as is confirmed by study of its
hydrodynamic parameters.
 Image Credits: Damen.com
X-Bow: The Generation of Inverted Bows

How about a design where your ships bow and almost a greater part of the hull appears
upside down in comparison to a normal round bilge hull or any of the hull shapes you
generally see on ships? The inverted bow is a success story among the revival of
technologies which became obsolete in a different era.
 Credits: BoH/wikipedia.org
These hull forms have the advantage of allowing maximum length waterline for ships of
comparable sizes which means the highest possible hull speeds. Like the Axe Bow,
these bows have less spray of water at entry and also have less pitching motions and
slamming reduction is quite significant. This creates quite a comfortable experience for
the crew. The fuel consumption is also reduced by a significant factor and this bow can
operate quite efficiently in medium sized wave ranges mainly because of the larger part
of the ship volume being above and upfront, directly impacted upon by the waves.

These hull forms also double up as decks with accommodation space for the personnel.
However the applicability of these designs for the same level of improvement in speed
losses in the roughest of seas must be an area of ongoing work. Keeping that aside,
these vessels have been applied to various applications like the AHTS (Anchor
Handling Tug Supply) vessels, Seismic Vessels, Offshore and Pipe lay Vessels,
drillships and the likes.
These are most commonly used ship Bow Designs today. Most probably, any vessel
you see out there will have any one of the designs you just read about.

Procedure For Designing A Ships General Arrangement

When a new ship is designed, one of the primary steps involved in the development of
the concept, is designing its General Arrangement and allocating proper spaces
according to the requirements of the owner and functionality of the ship. It is up to the
naval architect to decide on the ships general arrangement, depending on many design
constraints that are mentioned in the technical specifications of the contract.

So how exactly do you decide on a ships general arrangement, and design the most
optimum one for that particular project?

Since almost all ships have something unique in their general arrangement, there is no
specific procedure with rules stated for the same. But in spite of that, a naval architect
needs to know the basic procedure to follow in order to come down to an optimum
design. In this article, we shall discuss a general procedure that is followed in the ship
designing industry.
Initially, in order to have a visual approximation of the ship dimensions, draw an outline
of the profile view, main deck or uppermost deck that contributes to longitudinal
strength, and the forecastle deck. In some ships, the upper deck is stepped, i.e. it has a
poop deck at the aft. Make sure you show that in the profile view and the deck outline
view.
 Figure 1: Profile view of a 500 Pax ship

Figure 2: Main deck and Boat deck plan

The reasons behind deciding the particulars (Especially height) of the forecastle deck at
this stage are as follows:

Minimum bow height has to be attained (according to ILLC Regulations) in order

to reduce the deck wetness

To provide forecastle deck area for anchoring and mooring equipment

Adequate volume underneath for storage and chain locker, etc.

To provide additional cargo space (in lower decks) in case of certain ships
After having drawn the profile plan, the first thing a designer should do is decide on the
framing and frame spacing of the ship. The framing, whether longitudinal or transverse
is decided on the basis of the length of the vessel. Generally, all ships longer than 120
m are longitudinally strengthened.

Figure 3: Notice how the frame spacing is shown in the drawing

The frame spacing is then calculated by the formula specified in the rule book of the
authorised classification society. The value obtained from the formula is generally
rounded off to the nearest hundreds or fifties, so as to attain ease of production and
design.

Next is to mark the decided frame spacing of the drawing. This frame spacing will now
act as scale on the drawing, helping you to locate every point on the ship.

You must now divide the ship into certain number of watertight compartments, which is
decided by the subdivision rules prescribed by the classification society. The rules
specify the total number of watertight transverse bulkheads that are necessary to
maintain watertight integrity of the ship. A ship generally has four types of transverse
bulkheads:

A fore peak collision bulkhead

An aft-peak bulkhead

A bulkhead at each end of machinery space

Transverse bulkheads in cargo hold regions

Once the number of bulkheads have been decided, the length and number of holds
should be planned accordingly. The ordinary transverse watertight bulkheads in the
holds should be spaced at reasonably uniform intervals. Where non-uniform spacing is
unavoidable and the length of a hold is unusually large, the transverse strength of the
ship is to be maintained by providing additional web frames, increased framing etc.

In some cases, the decided number of bulkheads may interfere with the functionality of
the ship or the specific requirements of that particular type of trade. Proposals to
dispense with one or more transverse bulkheads in such cases can be considered by
the classification society, provided it does affect the watertight integrity of the ship.

How to decide the position of the fore peak collision bulkhead?

The distance of the forepeak collision bulkhead from the forward perpendicular is
decided based on formulae prescribed by the authorised classification society.
Generally, the class society would provide you with two formulae. One, to
specify the minimum distance of the forepeak bulkhead aft of the forward
perpendicular. Other, to specify the maximum distance of the forepeak bulkhead
aft of the forward perpendicular

It is up to you, as a designer, to provide the forepeak collision bulkheads within

the above limits, depending on the dimensions of the forepeak ballast tank,
anchor equipment, and chain locker dimensions

How to decide the position of the fore peak collision bulkhead?

The following considerations are taken during deciding the position of the aft peak
bulkhead or the engine room aft bulkhead. First, the position of the engine room forward
bulkhead is fixed according the position and length of the holds. Once that is done,
about four frame spaces need to be left out before placing the main engine aft of the
engine room forward bulkhead. That is to leave space for maintenance and crew
operations.
Aft of the empty space, the length of the engine room is to be decided depending upon
the length of the main engine, and the length of the intermediate shaft. Now, the
intermediate shaft is coupled with the propeller shaft by a flanged connection. The
coupling flange between the intermediate shaft and the propeller shaft is to be housed
within the engine room itself. It is just aft of the coupling flange that the engine room aft
bulkhead is positioned.

The propeller shaft runs from aft of the engine room bulkhead connecting to the
propeller through the stern tube.

In many cases, the position of the engine rom aft bulkhead is also governed by the
decided capacity of the aft peak ballast tank, which is always aft of the aft peak
bulkhead. The capacity of the tank is estimated by trim and stability calculations, which
is a very preliminary stage of design. But the engine and shaft lengths are decided at a
comparatively later stage. This should give you an idea of how iterative the ship design
process is.

Figure 4: Aft peak bulkhead position

How to arrange the cargo spaces?

The entire cargo space needs to be divided into cargo holds by placing the specified
number of transverse watertight bulkheads. The longitudinal position of the bulkheads
may be decided according to a few principles of cargo requirement:

Holds should be kept of equal lengths wherever possible

In some cases where necessary, alternate large and small holds are designed to
meet the cargo requirements for different voyage and cargo conditions. This is
normally done for bulk carriers, product tankers, and container ships

Sometimes, a single large cargo hold (for large multipurpose carriers)

In cases of oil tankers and container ships, decisions on longitudinal bulkheads are to
be taken, with respect to prevention of free surface effect, ensure proper cargo
distribution and handling characteristics.
In case of bulk carriers, the slope of the tank top sloping bulkhead is to be taken care of.
The tank slope must be more than the angle of repose of the cargo, which is generally
around 30 degrees. The slope of the bottom tank is generally maintained at 45 degrees.

In a general arrangement, the double bottom height needs to be shown clearly, so as to

ensure proper estimation and representation of the tank plan. Therefore the designer is
required to estimate the height of the double bottom using the corresponding formula
specified in the rules of the authorised class society.

Decide on the height of the tween decks. Ships that carry packed cargo and cars,
require more deck space to attain maximum stowage capacity. In order to increase the
overall deck area, these ships are provided with a number of tween decks. The height of
each tween deck should be sufficient to accommodate the cargo that is to be stowed on
it.

This consideration of tween deck is however not required for volume based cargo
carrier, like oil tankers, chemical carriers and bulk carriers. And in case of container
ships, the top of each container serves as the floor for the next container to be stowed
above it, hence container ships do not require tween decks for cargo stowage.

After having decided on the capacities and sizes of the cargo holds, the size of hatch
openings and hatch covers.

Ballast Tank Capacities and Tank Plan Design:

Ballast water is required for empty voyage to have proper sinkage, trim and stability.

Excessive ballast capacity is bad since it is expensive and takes up useful space.
Ballast capacity should be such that full propeller immersion is obtained at the aft end
and forward draught is not too low to avoid the harmful effects of slamming.
Approximately in a ballast voyage, displacement is 0.5 of fully loaded displacement
which is about 0.55 of full draught. Ballast distribution should be such that excessive
hogging moment is avoided in this condition. So a designer should always ensure to
segregate the ballast water tank from any other liquid tank.

Figure 5: Tank top plan and Tank plan

There are a few other points that a designer must consider while making tank
arrangements for ships:

No access is required except for cleaning and maintenance. Minimum two

manholes are to be provided on top, and preferably at the diagonal corners of
the tanks so that they are maximum distance from each other

Tanks and pipes carrying a particular type of liquid must be segregated from
those carrying another type of liquid. They should also be colour coded
differently

Fresh water tank should not have any tank adjacent to itself. So a fresh water
tank and any other tank must be separated by a cofferdam. For the same
reason, FW tanks cannot be placed below the load waterline

Since total liquid carried is relatively low, the tanks may conveniently be situated
in the lower portions to increase transverse stability of the ship
 To simplify piping arrangements, and the total length of piping, fresh water tanks
should be near the engine room, as well as accommodation. Dirty oil and heavy
fuel oil tanks should be near the engine room. Dirty oil and sludge tanks can be
conveniently located in the double bottom of the engine room

W. tanks should be well distributed all over the length and breadth of ship to help
the ship attain its stability and trim requirements. Pipes should not run inside
tanks carrying another liquid, i.e. fuel oil pipe should not run through any ballast
water tank

Consumable tanks (Heavy Fuel Oil, Dirty Oil, and Fresh Water) should be so
located that their consumption does not cause unnecessary adverse trim. They
should not cause unduly adverse free surface effects. So these tanks should be
divided into smaller tanks with reduced breath. Too many small tanks, however,
will make complicated piping system

W. tanks are either fully pressed or empty ballast water tanks should be
distributed all over the length of ship with sufficient capacity in the peak tanks to
adjust for the required trim and stability

Tanks should be distributed symmetrically about centreline of the ship, so that

adverse heel effects are not felt. If there is any such effect (damage stability)
cross-connection between port and starboard tanks may be provided

The boundaries of double bottom tanks, deep tanks etc. should be designed to
withstand the applied hydrostatic pressure

The tank distribution should not adversely affect the longitudinal strength of hull
girder

Lastly, it is important to understand and know, that a general arrangement of any ship
will consist of the drawings of the following views:
 Profile View (generally looking from starboard side)

Midship sections (looking from aft, and looking from forward)

Main deck plan (also shows the accommodation layout)

Navigation deck plan.

Forecastle deck plan

Tank top plan

Tank plan

It should also be noted that a the process of developing the general arrangement
drawing is slightly different for various design firms, depending on their procedures and
practices, however the underlying principle always remains the same. It is an iterative
process, and the final GA is a arrived at, after repeated approvals by the classification
society and the owners party.

X Bow Hull Design vs Conventional Hull Design

A bow is the forward most part of the ships hull which helps in reducing the resistance
as the ship cuts through the waves. Bow designs have been modified several times in
the past in order to improve ships efficiency and stability in sea water. The type of bow
design used depends on the characteristics of the vessel, area of operation, and
purpose of the ship.

X -bow is a unique bow design which was introduced by the Ulstein Group of Norway in
2006. Since then the design has received great positive reviews from around the world
and is now used on several vessels.
So how is X-bow design different from a conventional hull design?

X Bow Hull Design vs Conventional Hull Design

X-bow is a backward sloping bow or an inverted ship bow design which is used for
increasing the fuel efficiency and safety of the vessel at sea. As the name suggests, the
inverted bow design has its farthest point at the extreme point of the vessel (towards the
waterline) which gives a continuous sharp bow shape to the hull. The sharp design at
the extreme front helps the vessel to cut through the waves and improve overall
stability, especially in heavy waves.

In a conventional bow design, the farthest point of the bow is at the extreme front
(topmost part) of the vessel and it then tapers down, pushing the start of the bow
backwards at the waterline. As the shape of the conventional bow is less sharp, a
certain amount of energy is used to push the ship forward and this considerably slows
down the speed of the vessel.
 Bulb with a knuckle ( Image Credits :MKFI/Military of Finland / Wikipedia)

According to comparative tests done by Ulstein, the X bow design with its sharp hull
does not generate a spray as it cuts through the waves. As the ship parts the waves
efficiently, the wave energy transfer is less and the loss in vessel speed is
negligible. Moreover, as the X bow cuts through the waves instead of pitching over
them, there is considerable less amount of green water on the ships deck as compared
to the ships with conventional hulls. This also implies that there is almost negligible bow
flare and slamming resulting from the same in the front part of the ship.

The X bow hull design ships provides smoother movement of the ship with less
slamming, which also makes living and working environment on the vessel better and
reduces the chances of cargo shifting. According to a study, X bow design reduces the
movement of the ship by almost 20% even in the roughest seas. A ship with an X bow
design can thus easily sail through heavy waves with better speed and less movement.
Opinions taken from seafarers who have worked with X Bow reflect much better living
and operating conditions. Some of the officer even mentioned that unlike in ships with
conventional bows, speed in X bow ships didnt require to be reduced when facing
rough sea weather.

X bow design was first introduced to acquire higher speed with reduced slamming and
vibration problems during adverse weather conditions. However, according to the
makers, the X-bow design offers several other advantages over the conventionally
designed bow. Bourbon Orca was the first ship launched by Ulstein with an X bow
design in 2006.

Though mainly used for offshore support and supply vessels, the X bow design has
seen a considerable increase in demand across various types of vessels and are now
designed even for container and naval ships.

Single Hull Vs Double Hull Tankers

Double hull, as the name suggests, are tanker ship hulls with double layers of watertight
hull surface. The inner and outer layers of the hull are on the bottom as well as the
sides of the tanker ships. The double layer construction helps in reducing the risks of
marine pollution during collision, grounding, and any other form of ships hull damage.

Single hull have only one outer watertight layer which runs throughout the structure of
the tanker ship. As a result of only one layer, single hull tankers pose a greater threat to
marine environment during any kind of accidents.
 Credits: mol.co.jp

The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) introduced the regulation 13 F of Annex 1

of MARPOL, which effectively mandated double hulls for new built oil tankers of 5000
dead weight tonnage and above. The Exxon Valdez oil spill disaster also led U.S.
Government to make double hulls compulsory for all new tanker ships coming to the
U.S. ports. After the sinking of Erika off the coast of France in December 1999, IMO
proposed accelerating phase out of single hull ships. Single Hull Tankers Phase-out
time table can be found here.

Difference between Single Hull and Double Hull Tankers

In double hull tankers, the space between the two layers is used as dedicated ballast
tanks for ensuring ships stability.

The ballast spaces extend for the full length of the cargo carrying area, providing an
extensive safety measure. Single hull tankers do not have such ballast spaces.

In comparison to single hull design, double hull design is said to have less stability as it
raises the centre of gravity and reduces the meta-centric height of the ship. Moreover,
there is a risk of loss of stability because of free surface effects in cargo and ballast
tanks. Single hull ships are considered more stable as compared to double hull tankers.

Corrosion is considered one of the main reasons for failure of hull structures in tankers.
Improper maintenance of ballast tank structures and failure to maintain the integrity of
protective coating and cathodic protection in ballast tanks have lead to structural failure
in the past. In double hull tankers, the surface area of the tanks is more than double
than that of single hull tanks. Thus they require more maintenance during the operating
life.
As compared to the ballast tanks of single hull ships, those of the double bottom tanks
are easily accessible because of their increased height and width. This makes the work
during inspection much easier. However proper precautions must be takeninto
consideration while entering confined spaces of ballast tanks.

Structures of ballast spaces in double hull tankers are more susceptible to hull fractures
and minor failures as compared to single hull tankers. Double hull tanker operators have
often complained about cargo leakage into ballast tanks as a result of stress
concentration, fatigue, or construction defects.

Tanker ships with single hull design often faced problems of leakage of ballast water
into cargo from ballast water pipes passing through cargo tanks. This problem also
increased the risks of pollution during ballasting and de-ballasting from single hull
tankers as leaking pipes passing through cargo tanks can contaminate the clean ballast
water. The double hull design removed this problem with different piping systems
passing through only the respective tanks.
The surface area of ballast tanks is higher in double hull ships as compared to that of
single hull. This is because of longer and narrower double bottom tanks which increases
the surface area two to three times as compared to single hull tanks. However the
design of the double hull ships makes the access to the confined spaces of the tanks
more difficult as compared to the spacious ballast tanks of single hull ships.

According to a research, stresses in the structure of double hull ships are much higher
than that in single hull ships.
Thus double hull ships are more susceptible to minor structural failures as compared to
the single hull tankers. This can also be a matter of concern during accidents which
cause oil spill as a result of structural failure.

Ventilation is of utmost importance in double bottom tanks of double hull tankers as they
need inspection from time to time. As double bottom tanks are free from any internal
structure, it is easy to access them. However, they are not so friendly when it comes to
close-up inspection, or accessing side tanks or deck head areas; whereas though tanks
of single hull are difficulty to access, their confined areas much more inspection
friendly.

Water Tight Bulkheads on Ships: Construction and Arrangement

The Safety of any ship highly depends on its water tight integrity and structural strength.
That is why ships are so heavily stiffened and strengthened to survive rough weather,
accidental grounding, or collision.

However, the structure of a ship can still get damaged, allowing water ingress and
instability problem. If the water ingress is not constrained in time, the ship
will capsize and sink. For this reason, water tight bulkheads are fitted on ships to avoid
such situations.

What are Watertight Bulkheads?

Watertight bulkheads are vertically designed watertight divisions/walls within the ships
structure, starting from ships double bottom top until the upper main deck. The
bulkheads avoid ingress of water in a compartment if the adjacent compartment is
flooded due to damage in ships hull, structure etc.
Advantages of Watertight Bulkheads

They help in subdividing the ship into number of watertight compartments, thus
increasing watertight integrity of the ship

It helps in increasing the transverse strength of the ship which helps in reducing
raking

In case of fire bulkheads restrict the spread of the same to other compartments.

Construction and Design of Watertight bulkhead

The watertight bulkhead is made stronger and thicker than other bulkheads to sustain
the water pressure in case of water ingress. They are large area bulkhead incorporated
with a number of stakes of plating which are welded to the ships structure at side shell,
tank top, and deck. The plating is arranged horizontally and stiffening is done vertically.
The thickness of water tight bulkhead increases at the bottom as with increase in depth
the pressure of the water increase. The horizontal plating thickness is gradually
increased towards the bottom of the bulkhead.

Strengthening is increased by vertical plate bulb stiffeners or toe angle bar welded and
spaced about 760 mm apart. The ends of bulkhead stiffeners are bracketed to the deck
beams and tank top.The collision bulkheads are 12% thicker than other watertight
bulkhead and stiffener spacing is reduced to 600 mm to give extra strength to sustain
collision.

Arrangement of Watertight Bulkheads on Ships

The minimum number of water tight bulkhead depends upon the length of the ship and
the location of its machinery space. All sea going merchant ships must have at least-

Collision bulkhead placed at forward of the ship at 1/20 L (L is length of the ship)
and it should be continuous to upper deck.
 One an aft peak bulkhead which protects and encloses the stern tube and rudder
trunk of the ship

Two bulkheads enclosing the engine room from fore and aft if the location of the
engine room is at mid ship.

If the engine room is located at the aft of the ship, the aft peak bulkhead forms
the part of aft bulkhead of engine room. Hence only one bulkhead is required to
be placed at fore part of the engine room, separating it from the cargo space

What is Cofferdam on Ships?

A ship operates using mainly four main kinds of liquids throughout its systems- fuel or
diesel oil, lube oil, fresh water, and sea water. These liquids are stored at various places
on the ship in their dedicated tanks. Apart from these, there are other liquids such as
oily bilge and sludge are also generated on board from the working of machinery.
Thus, several numbers of tanks are provided onboard ships to store different kinds of
fluid which are used or generated for normal operation of the marine engine and
auxiliary machineries.

Since functions and properties of all liquids mentioned above are different, they are
stored separately and care must be taken not to mix any two different fluids even when
there is a leakage or failure in the boundaries of the tank separating them.

Cofferdam

To avoid the above mentioned situation, a void or empty compartment is provided

between the tanks to prevent two different liquids from mixing with each other. This
space is known as cofferdam. The space avoids intermixing of two different liquid when
there is a leak from the boundary separating the two liquid.

The cofferdam is provided with manholes for entry and inspection

It is also provided with sounding pipe to check leakage from any of the
subordinate tanks

It is always maintained dry to detect an early leak.

Where is Cofferdam Provided?

Cofferdam dam are there on all the ships. They are provided:

Between fuel oil tanks, and lube oil and fresh water tanks in the engine room.

All around main engine lube oil drain or sump tank to separate it from other
double bottom tank

Between other different grade liquid tanks like diesel oil and fuel oil service tanks.

Coffer dam is also provided to give access to the holding down bolts for main
engine
 Credits: maritimeaccident.org
In Oil Tankers, apart from the above mentioned locations, cofferdams are additionally
fitted:

Between cargo space and machinery space.

Pump room also may be a part of cofferdam.

Cofferdam is a type of enclosed space and all enclosed space entry precautions must
be taken before making an entry in the same.