B

Tonnage
Measurement and
Conversion Factors

A problem that recurs frequently in the shipping industry is the need to measure the size
of a ship or the size of a fleet of ships. One reason for doing this is to measure the
cargo-carrying capacity, but there are many other commercial reasons. For example,
port authorities will wish to charge large ships higher wharfage fees than small ships,
and the same applies to the Panama and Suez canal authorities. To meet these needs a
whole range of different measurement units have been developed in the shipping industry, each adapted to some particular need. Here we briefly review the principal units currently in use.

GROSS REGISTERED TONNAGE

One major issue of concern to shipowners, particularly liner companies handling
low-density cargo, is the internal volume of the ship, and before 1969 this was recorded
by the gross registered tonnage (grt). This was a measure of the total permanently
enclosed capacity of the ship and consists of:

underdeck tonnage;
tweendeck tonnage;
superstructures;
deckhouses and other erections.

Certain spaces such as navigational spaces (wheel-house, chart rooms, etc.), galleys,
stairways, light and air spaces are exempted from measurement, in order to encourage
their adequate provision. The official gross tonnage of a vessel is calculated by the
government surveyor when it is first registered. One ton equals 100 cubic feet of
internal space.

GROSS TONNAGE
The 1969 IMO Tonnage Convention introduced a new simplified standard procedure for
calculating gross tonnage (gt), and this is now used in all countries that are signatories
to the convention. Instead of going through the laborious process of measuring every

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TONNAGE MEASUREMENT AND CONVERSION FACTORS

open space in the ship, the gross tonnage is calculated from the total volume of all
enclosed spaces, measured in cubic metres, using a standard formula. For some ship
types, especially those with complex hull forms, the gt and the grt may be significantly
different.

NET REGISTERED TONNAGE

Under the existing rules, net registered tonnage is supposed to represent the
cargo volume capacity of the ship and is obtained by deducting certain non-revenueearning spaces from the grt. The net registered tonnage is expressed in units of
100 cubic feet.

NET TONNAGE (1969)

A formula introduced by the 1969 Tonnage Convention gives net tonnage (1969) as a
function of the moulded volume of all the ships cargo spaces, with corrections for
draughts less than 75% of the ships depth and for the number of berthed and unberthed
passengers. The net tonnage so calculated cannot be less than 30% of gt. The net
tonnage is also dimensionless.

DEADWEIGHT
In many trades the principal concern is with measuring the cargo-carrying capacity of
a fleet of ships, and for this purpose deadweight tonnage (dwt) is used. The deadweight
of a ship measures the total weight of cargo that the vessel can carry when loaded down
to its marks, including the weight of fuel, stores, water ballast, fresh water, crew,
passengers and baggage.
As a rule, the non-cargo items account for about 5% of the total deadweight in
medium-sized ships, although the proportion is lower in large vessels. As an example,
a 35,000 dwt bulk carrier would probably be able to carry about 33,000 dwt of cargo.
Deadweight can also be measured as the difference between the loaded ship
displacement and its lightweight (see below for definition).

COMPENSATED GROSS TONNAGE

This is a measure of shipbuilding output which takes account of the work content of the
ship. In the early 1970s, shipbuilders in Europe and Japan had reached the conclusion
that inter-country comparisons of shipbuilding output, measured in deadweight or gross
registered tonnage, were unreliable because some ships had a higher work content per

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gross ton than others. For example, a passenger ferry of 5,000 gross tons may involve
the shipbuilder in as much work as a bulk carrier of 15,000 gross tons. To overcome this
problem, a new standard unit called compensated gross tonnage (cgt) was developed.
This is calculated by multiplying the gross tonnage of a ship by an appropriate conversion
ship factor for that ship type.
A set of standard cgt conversion factors were agreed in 1984, but in 2005 they were
replaced by a formula which is used to calculate the compensated gross tonnage of the
ship from the gross tonnage:
cgt = A x gtB

(B.1)

where A represents the influence TABLE B.1 cgt parameters 2005

of ship type, and B the influence
A
B
of ship size and gt is the gross Ship type
tonnage of the vessel. (B is
Oil tankers (double hull)
48
0.57
itself defined as B = b+1 where Chemical tankers
84
0.55
29
0.61
b represents the diminishing Bulk carriers
carriers
33
0.62
influence of ship size on the Combined
General cargo ships
27
0.64
work input required to build a Reefers
27
0.68
container
19
0.68
single gross ton, this factor Full
Ro-ro vessels
32
0.63
having been derived from a sub- Car carriers
15
0.7
62
0.57
stantial sampling of shipyard LPG carriers
LNG carriers
32
0.68
outputs.) The internationally Ferries
20
0.71
49
0.67
agreed A and B parameters Passenger ships
Fishing vessels
24
0.71
developed on the basis of sam- Non-cargo vessels
46
0.62
pling shipyard output are shown
in Table B.1. For example, using
this formula and the parameters in Table B.1, a crude oil tanker of 157,800 dwt (see
Figure 14.6), of 87,167 gross tons would have a cgt coefficient of 0.36 and a cgt of 31,423.
Some examples of cgt coefficients calculated using the formula are summarized in
Table B.2. The cgt coefficients in this table were obtained by calculating the cgt and
dividing it by the gt to get the cgt coefficient shown in the table. For each ship type the
cgt coefficient changes. For example a 50,000 gt container-ship has a cgt coefficient of
0.7, whilst a 50,000 gt tanker has a lower cgt coefficient of 0.46, indicating the lower
work content per gross ton. The highest coefficients are for the LNG tankers and the
passenger ships. So this table also gives a useful insight into the relative work content
of different ship types.

LIGHTWEIGHT
A ships lightweight is the weight of the vessel as built, including boiler water, lubricating
oil and the cooling system water.

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Table B.2 Approximate cgt coefficients calculated using the 2005 formula
Parameters
Ship type
Crude oil tankers (double)
Chemical tankers
Bulk carriers
Combined carriers
General cargo
Reefers
Container-ships
Ro-o
Car carriers
LPG carriers
LNG carriers
Ferries
Passenger ships
Fishing vessels
Other non-cargo

A
48
84
29
33
27
27
19
32
15
62
32
20
49
24
46

Ship size (gt)

4,000

10,000

30,000

50,000

0.57
0.55
0.61
0.62
0.64
0.68
0.68
0.63
0.7
0.57
0.68
0.71
0.67
0.71
0.62

1.36
1.48
0.57
1.24
0.97
1.39
0.70
1.11
0.84
1.41
1.29
0.80
1.76
0.68
0.91

0.91
1.46
0.60
1.25
0.98
1.45
0.70
1.06
0.89
1.25
1.42
0.82
1.69
0.71
0.84

0.57
1.42
0.64
1.26
1.01
1.51
0.70
1.01
0.96
1.08
1.60
0.85
1.62
0.74
0.76

0.46
1.41
0.66
1.27
1.02
1.54
0.70
0.98
1.00
1.01
1.70
0.86
1.59
0.76
0.72

80,000 100,000 150,000

0.37
1.40
0.68
1.27
1.03
1.57
0.70
0.96
1.03
0.95
1.79

0.34
1.39
0.69
1.28
1.03
1.58
0.70
0.95
1.05
0.93
1.83

0.29
1.38
0.71
1.28
1.04
1.61
0.70
0.93
1.08
0.88
1.91

Note: The cgt of a ship is calculated by multiplying the gross tonnage by the appropriate factor in the table. For ship sizes not shown, the cgt
coefficients can calculated by interpolation.

STANDARD DISPLACEMENT
This is the theoretical but accurate weight of the vessel fully manned and equipped, with
stores and ammunition but without fuel or reserve feed water.

SUEZ AND PANAMA TONNAGES

For ships transiting the Suez and Panama canals, different systems of measurement are
used to assess the dues payable. All ships have to be specially measured for the assessment of their dues when passing through these areas.

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