Vy a oo Vey te THE NAUTICAL INSTITUTE HUMBERSIDE BRANCH MINAR SQUAT INTERACTION MANOEUVRING WEDNESDAY 13TH SEPTEMBER 1995 THE ROYAL HOTEL, HULL HUMBERSIDE =e een eee SeCONTENTS INTERACTION 1. Dand . SHIP SQUAT C.B. Barrass VOITH SCHNEIDER TUGS AND THEIR USES MS. Taylor... PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF SHIPHANDLING J. Walker... Copyright: The Nautical Institute 202 Lambeth Road London SE1 7LQ Pages 1-20 21-33 34-43 44-57= Ee et = = INTERACTION by Dr. Ian W. Dand, B.Sc., Ph.D, F.Eng, FRINA BMT SeaTech Ltd. INTRODUCTION When ships come close to each other, one is apt to ‘feel’ the presence of the other to a greater or lesser degree. This may be manifest in a number of ways, ranging from involuntary speed changes to catastrophic (and again involuntary) course changes which may lead to collision, or grounding Of course, itis wise to avoid these sudden, unexpected occurrences by leaving plenty of sea room between one ship and another. But this is not always possible : ships in a long narrow approach channel have to pass each other and some (tugs and pilot launches for example), by the very nature of their work, must go in close to the ships they are attending. The hydrodynamic phenomenon which causes ships in close proximity to exhibit this behaviour is known as interaction and its causes and effects are the subject of this paper. First we look at the causes, then give some practical aspects which incline toward operations in shallow or confined waters, and finally consider some famous examples of interaction which themselves have spurred research into this important and fascinating topic. WHAT Causes INTERACTION? Interaction at sea has a number of resonances with similar effects on land. The sway that is felt when a car passes (or is passed by) a large lorry on a motorway, the suction created by a high speed train passing through a station (giving rise to the yellow warning lines painted on platforms) and ground effect experienced by aircraft when taking off or landing are all examples. Indeed they all arise from the same basic fluid dynamic cause, although with ships the phenomenon is more insidious and can strike unexpectedly. In the marine world, interaction is caused when the pressure fields around ships interact. All ships are in a state of balance in the water, held in position at rest by hydrostatic pressures to which are added dynamic pressures when the ship begins to move. Dynamic pressures are those which cause (and indeed are represented by) the familiar diverging and transverse wave systems generated by a ship moving calm water.IF the pressure system acting over the underwater hull of the ship is changed in any way, its state of balance will be affected. It may go faster or slower, move off course, sink deeper into the water or rise on to its surface (squat), OF possibly trim differently. Ifa ship moves from deep into shallow water the Presence of the seabed will have an effect on hull pressures as the water gets more shallow. Waves also become steeper in shallow water and so do the ship's own waves. The upshot of this is that the ship expends more energy making its own wave system, so its resistance increases and, unless it changes its engine setting, it will slow down. It will also exhibit an increased tendency to squat. Finally it will cause, and feel, enhanced interaction In shallow water, ship-ship interaction becomes more severe from these purely hydrodynamic causes. Figure 1, from reference 1, attempts to demonstrate that, as ships pass close by each other, they may be sucked together or pushed apart, turned toward or away from each other, all due to interaction. Figure 2 shows some measurements of the surge and sway forces, together with the yaw moments experienced by one model ship when passed by another on a reciprocal course. The effect of reducing water depth can be seen readily and it is of interest to note that transient changes in mean sinkage and running trim (squat) also occur. As well as ship-ship interaction, there is another form of interaction which occurs when a ship is near a canal or fairway ‘bank’. As shown in Figure 3 the bank acts in many ways as a mirror and a ship close to a bank behaves as if it was close to its mirror image. The result is that the ship will be generally sucked toward the bank. But the wave system of the ship will also be affected and the bow wave close to the bank will increase in size and form a pressure ‘cushion’. This is enhanced if the bank is sloping, when the wave may locally ‘go critical’ and get even steeper. This ‘cushion’ will tend to push the bow away from the bank and, if the speed is high enough, the ‘push’ from the cushion can overcome most of the suction pulling the ship toward the bank so that it tends to be pushed bodily away. SHIP-SinP INTERACTION Having looked briefly at the causes of interaction, what about its effects and how can these be overcome? Model tests have shown that, in general terms, ship-ship interaction varies. * as the square of the speed. * inversely with distance off. * roughly as the inverse square root of the underkeel clearance to draught ratio.= = oa = 3 These mean that: * the faster the ship moves, the worse interaction becomes. * the greater the lateral separation between ships, the better. the smaller the underkeel clearance, the bigger the effect. So the lesson to be learnt is that the correct speed and distance off are vital if interaction is to be avoided, or at least its effects minimised. Of course, in some situations it is not possible to reduce speed or increase distance off in which case an awareness of the possibility of interaction and its effects is important, In such cases "“fore-warned is fore-armed” With this in mind, the following general effects of interaction for ships passing on parallel or reciprocal courses are given. They are illustrated diagrammatically in Figures 4 and 5. Head-on Passing 1. Interaction begins to be felt with the bows of both ships being pushed away from each other accompanied by a slight increase in speed. 2. At the same time, the vessels feel a slight bodily repulsion. 3. As the ships pass, the ‘bow-out” moment turns to ‘bow-in’ and the repulsion reduces. 4. The ‘bow-out’ moment then returns as passing continues, but is now stronger. Indeed it may cause both ships to sheer away from each other once they have passed. A slight reduction in speed may also be felt. 5. Finally a weak ‘bow-in’ moment accompanied by a repulsion may be felt Comment Passing on reciprocal courses has the merit (from an interaction point of view) of being quick so that often the ship does not have time to react to the various interaction forces and moments it feels. Usually the dominant effects are the “bow-out’ turning moments as the ships begin to pass and the stronger bow- Out moments once passing is almost over. The former is beneficial and is usually small enough to control, while the latter is much stronger and, if not anticipated, could cause one or other of the vessels to sheer toward the bank of a narrow channel.3.2 Overtaking 1, As the overtaking vessel overhauls the overtaken vessel, two things happen . a small bow-in moment is experienced by both ships. + the overtaking ship speeds up and the overtaken ship slows down. As the relative velocity when overtaking may be low, interaction has time to take effect and at this juncture, the overtaken ship may be caused to turn across the bows of the overtaking ship which may perversely turn toward her. As a result both ships may collide (see Figure 5) 3. Ifa collision does not occur (perhaps because the vessels are on slightly converging courses) then the overtaking vessel will move past the other and both will feel powerful bow-out moments together with a mutual attraction, This may cause both ships to ‘fly apart’ and their stems to collide as shown in Figure 5. 4, Usually an overtaking manoeuvre, affected by interaction, does not get as far as the final stages without collision or a violent change of course. If it did, it would find the overtaking ship experiencing an increase in resistance which slows it down. At the same time, the overtaken ship feels its resistance reduce, so it speeds up. The result is that the overtaking ship finds it more difficult to complete its passing manoeuvre and may, in extreme cases, get ‘trapped”. Comment Overtaking manoeuvres should always be treated with caution. Relative velocities are low so the ships are in proximity long enough for interaction to have an effect. Collisions may result, or the vessels may get hydrodynamically trapped together; the former can be avoided by allowing sufficient distance off, (or not overtaking at all), the latter by one or other of the vessels slowing down. Interaction when overtaking depends on the relative velocity; the lower it is, the more likely it is that problems will occur. If it is zero then the ships are moving along together, as in a Replenishment at Sea (RAS) operation carried out by warships. In such cases the effects of interaction (albeit in deep water and therefore more controllable) must be known so that the most benign position alongside can be found Other vessels must move in concert as part of their daily routine, the most ‘obvious being the harbour tug.a = = = = eo helene = =e eS SS = 3.3 34 Ship and Moored Ship Interaction If one of the ships in a passing manoeuvre is stationary (moored alongside a Jetty for example) it can still be affected by interaction. Just the same sequence of forces and moments takes place but, because the ship’s mooring system is perhaps least stiff in surge, the moored ship may move ahead and astern on her berth. This, coupled with sideways and rotary motions may give rise to snatch loads in any slack or poorly-tended moorings which could break. Once one line has broken, others may soon follow Comment Speeds past moored ships should be kept as low as practicable and should be at their lowest when underkeel clearances are small. Distance off should also be kept as large as is practicable. Tug-Ship Interaction The tug is generally much smaller than the ship it is attending and while a given depth of water may be deep for the tug, it may well be shallow for the ship. This means that, whereas the ship will have a big interactive effect on the tug, the tug will, naturally, have virtually no effect on the ship. Modern tractor or reverse-tractor tugs have enough power and manoeuvrability to be in less danger from the effects of interaction than their conventionally propelled counterparts. This is not to say that they are unaffected. Figure 6 shows measurements of the interaction sway force and yaw moment felt by a tractor tug model keeping pace with a large ship; it is seen that large forces develop. However, the fast response and enhanced manoeuvrability of such tugs means that they are much more able to manoeuvre out of difficulty. For any conventionally powered (and steered) tugs and other vessels similarly equipped, Figure 7 shows diagrammatically the sort of interaction forces and moments they will experience when they come alongside, Clearly there are areas near the bow and stern that are best avoided because the control that the rudder exerts adds to, rather than subtracts from, the effects of interaction. Of particular interest is the tendency to turn under the bow of the larger vessel brought about by interaction. ‘This has caught a number of conventional tugs unawares over the years with disastrous consequences. The sudden changes in the interaction forces and moments acting on the vessel as it alters its fore and aft position alongside the bigger ship are largely to blame; if they are not anticipated by the helmsman, the smaller vesse! will drive itself under the bow of the bigger ship.41 INTERACTION NEAR FIXED BOUNDARIES It has already been mentioned that interaction can occur when a ship is near a bank. In general, fixed boundaries to waterways, whether they be banks of canals, rivers or fairways or whether they are the walls of enclosed docks, can have effects on ships which may be sudden and unexpected. Some of these are now discussed. Bank Effects It has already been shown that bank effects are manifest as a bow-out turning moment together with a suction. This will be experienced whether the bank is vertical (as in a waterway with piled sides), flooded (as in a fairway) or sloping (as in a canal). It will also occur if the water shoals to one side of the ship. ‘The practical outcome of this phenomenon is usually that the ship sheers away from the bank. The ‘bow cushion’ dominates and turns the ship which then moves away from the bank and, as it does so, experiences less and less interaction as distance from the bank increases. This means that, to move Parallel to a bank, interaction is countered by steering toward the bank; if the udder is correctly set, a balance can, in principle, be found to cancel interaction (see Figure 8). Clearly, passage along the centreline of a waterway, midway between the banks, should avoid bank effects as they will cancel, This will be true in a waterway such as a canal with uniform banks, but in fairways and rivers whose banks may be anything but uniform, it cannot be relied upon implicitly Itis often argued that in such circumstances, the ship will automatically “find” the centre of the river, the bank effects acting as a form of control device. While it is true that bank effects will tum a ship toward the centre of a waterway, their relationship to the vessel’s mass, inertia and turning ability is very unlikely to ensure that the ship does not simply over-shoot the centreline and ground on the other bank. A possible scenario in such a case is that the ship will sheer off one bank, head across the centre of the waterway to approach the opposite bank at an angle. If this angle is right, the vessel may turn, under the influence of the growing bow cushion, to leave the bank, without touching, and head for the other side of the waterway (Figure 8). Usually this process is divergent and ‘reflection’ does not occur a second time so that the ship runs aground.=~ oS Se SES Se Se OE re vO wr ir sv 4.2 Ships in Ba: s Ships moving in enclosed basins in which other ships are moving or moored can generate interaction-like effects. A few are now considered Swinging and Manoeuvring A ship manoeuvring unaided in an enclosed basin may use a combination of propellers and bow thruster. This may cause the water in the basin to move and the resultant swinging of the ship (which acts as a form of ‘paddle’) will cause further movement and pressure changes. Ships moored in the vicinity may feel these pressure changes and range or surge on their moorings, Tug Pumping ‘The modern harbour tug is usually powered by one or more propellers or, more generally nowadays, by two powerful thrusters. Not only are these good propulsion devices, but in the confined space of a basin they act as effective pumps, setting water in motion. In a very confined space (especially if the tugs are on short lines), they can cause the ships they are attending to move in unexpected ways. Figure 9 (from reference 2) shows a situation which was modelled physically; it shows how the flow induced by tug wash causes local pressure changes which affect the ship. Notice how the ship moves bodily toward the tug even though the direction in which the tug is pulling does not suggest such behaviour. Similar effects have been experienced in lock-bell-mouths when tug action has inadvertently caused ships to move in an unexpected direction. In extreme cases tug wash can cause an effect which is directly contrary to that expected. Figure 10 (also from reference 2) shows the turning moment measured on a ship model when ‘towed’ by a tug in the manner shown. Notice how the turning moment on the ship actually changes sign (ie. acts in a direction opposite to the expected) at the shallowest water depth. This is yet another example of the powerful effect of shallow water, and suggests that care should be taken when using powerful tugs on short lines in enclosed basins. The Following Wake When a ship slows down too abruptly, the water moving with it may not be so obliging. ‘The ship's wake takes time to slow down and, in shallow, confined alters it should be remembered that the body of water which moves with the ship takes time to slow down and in so doing, will overtake the ship. This may often affect the vessel and can move it ahead or, in extreme cases, tum it in an uncontrolled manner (see Figure 11). ‘The lesson is clearly to reduce speed, or a swinging manoeuvre gradually.EXAMPLES OF INTERACTION There are a number of marine accidents where interaction has played the main, Or at least an important, role. Some are listed here and their importance lies not so much in their details as in the fact that most of them played an important part in developing our understanding of the phenomenon known as interaction ‘Olympic/Hawke’ Collision The ‘Olympic’, the sister ship of the ‘Titanic’ was in collision with the cruiser HMS Hawke’ in the Solent in 1911. Both ships were on similar, but converging, courses and the 'Hawke’ suddenly and unexpectedly sheered to Port into the ‘Olympic’. There was suggestion of both ship-ship interaction and bank effect on the ‘Hawke’, as well as a demonstration of the effects of speed and converging courses. This case really began the modern study of interaction, for a number of investigations were done for the subsequent litigation and beyond. ‘The ‘Olympic’ was taken out of service for repair and her presence at Harland and Wolff delayed completion of the Titanic. ‘Titanic’/‘New York’ While leaving Southampton on her maiden (and only) voyage, the ‘Titanic’, sister ship of the ‘Olympic’ was almost in an interaction-induced collision, While passing the Dock Head she passed close to two smaller passenger liners moored abreast. The outer one, ‘New York’, broke free and drifted toward the ‘Titanic’. Only the quick actions of a tug prevented a collision, although the ‘Titanic’ was delayed. It is of interest to note how interaction played a part in the short life of the ‘Titanic’; her completion was delayed by the ‘Olympic’/'Hawke” incident and her voyage was delayed by her incident with the ‘New York’. Had these incidents not occurred, the story of the Titanic’ might have been very different. ‘Queen Mary’/'Curacao’ During the Second World War the ‘Queen Mary’, in use as a troop transport, cut the light cruiser ‘Curacao’ in two. Both vessels were moving at speed in deep water and the ‘Queen Mary’ was carrying out a zig-zag manoeuvre, Model tests carried out after the event showed that interaction from the larger ship caused the warship to move toward her from a significant distance off. The investigation (reference 3) provided some illumination of the powerful effect of speed and ship size on interaction. 'HMS Nelson’ Grounding Just before the Second World War, HMS Nelson, on leaving Portsmouth Harbour, took a sudden sheer to starboard and ran hard aground on the shallows off Haslar Wall. Subsequent model tests (reference 4) showed evidence of strong bank effect and gave the first published evidence of the interaction caused by a nearby shelving beach.mest ree at emer Maret Ure ae Weert Mk are ete ee reel Oe reer tee 1 ‘Royston Grange’/'Tien Chee’ In 1972 the reefer ‘Royston Grange’ collided with the tanker ‘Tien Chee’ in the River Plate. The ‘Tien Chee’ was heavily constrained by her draught and was moving more or less on the channel cenireline, This caused the 'Royston Grange’, who was making good speed, to move well to starboard. This caused her to sheer, from bank effect, into the ‘Tien Chee’. Both ships caught fire and there was heavy loss of life, The subsequent investigation showed the importance of speed in any interaction incident as well as the magnitude of bank effect. It also initiated studies of interaction aimed at explaining the effect and informing the maritime community. This paper is the latest example of that continuing task. REFERENCES 1. DAND, LW. ‘The Physical Causes of Interaction and its Effects’. Nautical Institute Conference on Ship Handling, Plymouth, 1977, p. 34-73. 2. DAND, L.W.: ‘Tug Wash Effects in Confined Waters’ Seventh International Tug Convention, Thomas Reed Publications Ltd., London, 1982. 3. ROBB, A.M.: ‘Interaction Between Ships : A Record of Some Experiments and Evidence of Wave Effect’ Trans. Royal Institution of Naval Architects, vol. 91. 1949, p, 324-339. 4. GAWN, R.W.L.: ‘Steering and Propulsion of HMS ‘Nelson’ in a Restricted Channel’ Trans. Royal Institution of Naval Architects, vol. 92, 1950, p. 82.c>>2> To: StiRawtns RAKE Prendore FIGURE 1 INTERACTION AT CONSTANT SPEED /PORERODY. Py as neice, * i On ~ peer oe | >>>> LbSexd 'SWYN OSH OGE 'H aau z 5 x . x gE r x gE x x x gr R a x z R E EFIGURE 2 Re Increase SURGE FORCE os -027]°%o2 os jis teeeeecjoa ee SWAY FORCE | REPULSION RESULTS MEASURED a a6) ees ON Tris MOOEL at : DEPTIVGRAUGHT TURNING MOMENT -22 MEAN SINKAGE | sinmeace FURNING TRIB HEAD-ON ENCOUNTER, EFFECT OF DEPTH/ DRAUGHT RATIO -ne gerd OL Ala outed INF F S88I-ra- ro <<< xd NI 2322 S/€ Bova 90:60'9T g66T ‘PO ‘AON << XWd NI >>>>> LbSEXE 'SWWN OSH OGE :# aa ONIWOONTmB EREEBEER ERE BEEBE RBE ER REE BBR aE FIGURE 3 ANV@ JO 3NIT OL TETIWYVd dIHS 40 3SYuNOD $L03443 ANVE NYS TOILUaA ¥ OL TaN WEVE dIHS BNO] = GOVAN MOULIN SAI Y dIHS NO mer -BOIS-AN-3OIS SUIHS TDILNZOI_OML | rn Ay {WH -12 - sannnyauis ANYE WD1LY3A wouuin,= em mmm HE mee eS fe fs Fs Fs Ss elves le OF INITIAL BOW-OUT MOVEMENT WITHOUT ANTICIPATION \ = WITH ANTICIPATION INTERACTION DURING RECIPROCAL PASSING {DIAGRAMMATIC ONLY : NOT TO SCALE) FIGURE 4FIGURE § couysten ‘specs HANGS BACK ANO MAY GeT up TRAPPED! POSSIALE COLLISION LN oN mA Manes conveaaine courses aac, INTERACTION WHEN OVERTAKING : i ee a mee ALTERNATIVE SCENARIOS Sic rod SCZ OL "ANd SNIGSIME-2a37 SNnaky WON PINT 9S51-noK-reTeo FIGURE 6 Cy vob attraction SipEFORCE b=00 REPULSION eel | ry We DE Poot ew “SS INTERACTION FORCES & MOMENTS INDUCED ON TRACTOR TUG MODEL BY TANKER MODEL sed SNAG MOMS Test nore secee yYa NI >>>>> << Yvd NI >>>>> govd 90:60'9T 866T ’FO “AON WYN OSH 06 F# SEY ONTWOONTFIGURE 7 NOWDVURLNI dIHS-9NL ¥3LNNOD wadony 9NILD34O2 — LY, LLL \ SSNIIYSELS BLYMIKOUGEY 3XYM TYNOISN3WIO-OML dIHS oe eePr PF Pwr wr Pe eS PSP ewe eS S| gr = GROUNDING ON 7 ou BANK | TURN FROM BANK EFFECT L y ve tow fy “cushion TWN runt enone nuooen BANK SUCTION a 0 : TRACKS DUE TO BANK EFFECT (DIAGRAMMATIC ONLY) aio FIGURE 8 BOW ‘CUSHION" "REFLECTION’ OFF OPPOSITE BANK. TNFIGURE 9 IHS 4O NIY3MOT ON OS G39NGNI MOTs ON YO BTLLIT aYNSS3Yd Y3MO1-HSYM ONL AG G3NGNI MOT YSLVM G3NINOD NI HSVM ONL JO 193443 LOBYIGNI 180d OL BNN TOA YBLVM NI BUNSSBYd JO dIHS NO O3DNGNI LN3WOW ONINUNL L3N rs MOS ONIDNGNI HSV ONL dIHS NO G39NGNI 39YO4d AVMS LIN dINS 40 GUVORUVIS OL BNNTOA UBLYM NI NUBLS NVHL 3uNSS3¥d Y3MO7 OS dIHS 4O MOG YVAN MOT YB1SV4 7 = 18 -a PSP ES PS eee eS eS SPF FersFrFp Ss om hm FIGURE 10 (ACTUAL RESULTIIEXPECTED RESULTI%S 100} LoncrTuoiat FORCE a — eal a ° 4 — —t -- Snnenee Sen TEEEEE J DEPTH/DRAUGHT 1 12 73 Te | + i | ° 100] \ Key | Tow piRecrions siDE FORCE - + = ver torausnt +0 VW 12 +3 a 1s ~ 100r TURNING MOMENT Ne ——— - —_g__pertiionaucn a 1 1s ; 1 oe TUG WASH EFFECTS IN A CONFINED SPACE -19-FIGURE 11 LLL FOLLOWING WaKE (— TuaNs, ano Moves, SHIP ao j————____| SHIP STOPS OVER GROUND, CANTED To STARBOARD cE 2 (| SHIP STOPPING RAPIDLY SHALLOW CHANNEL Ws b Be MOVING WITH SPEED OF SHIP = 0 THE FOLLOWING WAKESHIP SQUAT by Dr. C. B, Barras Abstract The lecture begins with a description of what exactly ship squat is. Details are given on how squat predictions are very important for vessels with large DWT like supertankers or high speed ships like container vessels. Indications that a ship has entered shallow water conditions are listed to assist shipboard personnel. The main factors or variables for estimating maximum squat are discussed in detail. Three formulae are given for estimating maximum squat and whereabouts along the ship's length it is likely to occur. One of the three formulae is complicated. The other two formulae, however, are quick approximations giving answers that err on the high and therefore safe side. Measured squats on ship models and full sized ships are referred to, including the examples of “Herald of Free Enterprise’ and the “QE II’. Finally, a summary is given to show the advantages for shipowners, the ship’s officer of the watch, the ship's pilot and the Port Authority, now that the maximum squat for ships can safely be predicted. I look forward to the discussions that follow the paper. What exactly is ship squat? Ship squat can be caused in two ways. On most occasions squat is caused by the forward motion of a vessel. Squat is the decrease in underkeel clearance caused by this forward motion.” As the ship moves forward she develops a mean bodily sinkage together with a slight trimming effect. The algebraic sum of bodily sinkage and the trim ratio (forward or aft) is known as “ship squat”. It must be emphasised that for any draught, squat is NOT the difference in reading between the situation when a vessel is stationary and when she is underway. This mis-conception is inaccurate and misleading. For example, the difference in bow draught readings due to forward motion might be 2m, whilst the decrease in underkeel clearance might only be 0-40m. oeThe other occasion where squat will occur is with a moored vessel, in an ebb tide, alongside a jetty. ®*” Tide speed along the stationary vessel produces, as before, components of bodily sinkage and trimming effects. The two combined give ship squat for a stationary vessel. Maritime personnel, taking draught readings say for a draught survey, must be aware that the second situation could lead to underloading cargo aboard a vessel being loaded ready for departure, ©"? Ship squat has always existed on smaller slower vessels. It only amounted toa few centimetres and was therefore inconsequential. In the 1960s and 1970s several new specialised ship types were developed. ‘Two of these were the supertanker and the container ship. Supertankers of 250,000t DWT became common. They were almost too big for ports to accommodate them, resulting in static underkeel clearances as low as 1.0m to 1.5m. At the same time container ships were replacing many of the older general cargo ships. Service speeds for these container ships gradually increased from 16 knots up to as high as 27 knots. Passenger liners also followed this specification for higher and higher speed up to 30 knots. However, with oil fuel costs in mind, for the 1990s new orders for container ships tend to specify service speeds ranging from 18 to 22 knots. In 1995, even passenger liners like the new “Oriana” operate with a design service speed of 24 knots. Still high, but not as high as yesteryear. Asunderkeel clearances decreased and design service speeds rose, maximum squats gradually increased until they can be in the order of 1-5m to 1-75m. These are by no means inconsequential. Developments in ship design have, therefore, made the prediction of squat much more important from the safety point of view. Much more so in the 1990s than say 30 years ago. ® A vessel behaves differently in shallow water than she does when she is in deep water. ® It becomes necessary to know when a ship has entered shallow waters. This can be determined using a depth of influence co-efficient F, in the following manner. Let ‘H’ be the depth of water and let ‘T’ be the mean draught of the static ship, measured at or near to amidships. "!/, is then worked out and compared with the F, value for each ship type. ® —2-= a for a supertanker F,=5:68xT for a general cargo ship F,=7.07xT for a passenger vessel F,=825xT for a ro-r0 vessel F)=9-20xT for a “Leander” frigate F,=12.04xT If"/, is above the respective F, value, the vessel's resistance will not alter, her speed will remain constant, her propeller revs will remain steady and her squat will remain unchanged. She is in fact operating in deep water conditions Below the corresponding value of F, for each vessel, each ship will be in shallow water conditions. Below this F, value, the vessel's resistance will increase, her speed will reduce despite the same input of engine power, her propeller revs will reduce and her squat will increase as'"/, approaches 1-10. Other indications that a ship has entered shallow waters are:— © a) _ wave making increases at the forward end of the ship; b) vessel becomes more sluggish to maneouvre; ©) _ shipmay start to vibrate suddenly because of entrained water effects causing resonance; d) rolling, pitching and heaving motions decrease due to the cushion of water beneath the vessel. ‘The main factors affecting ship squat are:-— a) _ the forward speed V, which is the speed of the ship over the ground. This is the most important factor because ship squat varies directly as Vg. If the speed is halved then the squat is quartered. b) the block co-efficient C,, This also is important. Squat varies directly with the C,. In other words, oil tankers and OBOs will have comparitively more squat than passenger liners and container ships. This is shown graphically in figure 3. ©) therelationship between the depth of water (H) and the static mean draught of the ship (T). In my research I particularly considered measured squats for H/, range of 1-10 to 1-40. As "/, decreases, squats increase. d) the presence of river or canal banks. The closer banks are to the sides of a moving vessel, the greater will be the squats. ® e) _ the presence of another ship in a river in a crossing or passing manoeuvre. The presence of the second ship increases the squats on both vessels. In open water conditions, having no adjacent banks, it is possible to calculate an artificial width of water to represent the river banks. This is known asa “width of influence” (see later notes). Practical calculations for squat ® An important factor is the blockage factor ‘S’, where S = bx T / Bx Has shown in —23—figure 1. From this we obtain the velocity-return factor S,, where §, = S / 1S as. shown in figure 1. Method 1:— 213 208 Maximum squat=‘f,..=C,/30xS) x Vj" metres, for open water and confined channel conditions. Method 2:— Maximum squat = ‘f.,,, =C,xVg_/ 100 metres in open water only. Method 3:— Maximum squat (Cx Vg / 100) metres in open water and confined channels, where [6x5] + 0-400. See related reading. ® Method 4:— Maximum squat = ‘f,,, = 2x(C, x Vg_/ 100) metres in confined channels when the blockage factor ranges 0-100 to 0.265. Methods 2, 3 and 4 will give approximate squats. These will err slightly on the high side and contain, therefore, a small margin of safety. A worked example at the end of this paper illustrates the use of these various methods. The shown formulae were derived after a detailed analysis of measured results on ship models and ships. © Knowing how to predict maximum squat is important. Equally important is knowing whereabouts on the moving vessel it will occur. It all depends on how each ship is trimming when static. Trim is the difference between the aft draught and the forward draught Consider first of all ships that are on even keel when stationary. In other words, their trim is zero. As soon as each ship moves she will:— a) trim by the head if her C, is greater than 0-700; b) trim by the stern if her C, is less than 0-700; ©) _ usually not trim if her C, is 0-700. Her squat will consist only of the mean bodily sinkage component. Thus, — for full-form vessels, ‘’,., will occur at the bow; — for fine-form vessels, ‘,,, will occur at the stern; — for medium form vessels, ‘f_,. will occur at the stern, bow and amidships, ie. all along the bottom shell of the ship. —u—However, if each vessel is trimming ® when stationary, then the following applies:— a) if a vessel is static and trimming by the head, then when she is underway bodily sinkage will occur plus a slight trimming effect also by the head; b) fa vessel is static and trimming by the stern then when she is underway bodily sinkage will occur plus a slight trimming effect also by the stern. Inboth cases, any static trim on a ship will be increased in the same direction when she is at forward speed. ‘,, will occur and be added onto the larger of the two static end drafts. ® The width of influence ‘F,’ is an artificial width of water used in squat calculations. ® It is used for a ship operating in open water conditions. It is dependent on the type of ship being considered. for a supertanker F,=832xB 950 x B for a general cargo ship F, for a tug (coastal) ; for a ‘Leander’ frigate where ‘B’ is the ship's maximum breadth, at or very near to amidships. By using this width of influence, one can place the ship in an artificial channel/canal and then proceed; calculating the maximum squat as though the vessel was operating in a river or canal Any width of water beyond F, will give identical squat values. This is why it is termed the “width of influence”. ® Any width of water less than F, will produce increased resistance, loss of speed, loss of prop revs and increases in ship squat. A worked example at the end of this paper illustrates this concept of “width of influence”. Consequences Thave been asked on several occasions to indicate where excessive squat has caused grounding of a vessel. Two recent incidents are:-— a) “Herald of Free Enterprise” on 6th March 1987. bd) “QE2” grounding on 7th August 1992. ° The “Herald of Free Enterprise’ left port with her bow doors open and trimming heavily by the head. In shallow water conditions she quickly attained a speed of18 knots. As described previously, this would produce a mean bodily sinkage plus additional trim by the head. Maximum squat occurred at the bow, resulting in water entering the vessel and leading to capsize of the ship. Almost 200 people lost their lives. The “QE2” was leaving port in shallow water conditions. In the technical press it was reported that the forward speed was 24 to 25 knots just prior to grounding of the vessel. According to Lloyds Lists, costs to the owners were $13-2 million in repairs and some $50 million in lost passenger bookings !! These two examples illustrate that squat can be linked to financial loss and, more importantly, to loss of life. When a ship grounds due to excessive squat shipowners may be faced with the following costs:— a) _ repair costs for the ship; b) repair costs for repairs to lock sills; ©) compensation claims for oil spillage; d) _drydock charges for inspection of a ship; ©) _ time out of service. Loss of earnings can be as high as £100,000 per day. Prevention One way of preventing excessive squat and its effects is to reduce speed. This is the most efficient way. Another way to consider is to increase "/, value. This can be achieved by discharge of loading within the ship such as water ballast, or to move the vessel into deeper water. Reducing the loading within the ship decreases the value of T which in turn increases '"/,. Reducing this draught T also reduces C, value. C, ata lower draught will, as formulae show, reduce squat value. The possession of a computer program to predict squat data would also be of benefit to ships’ officers. There is one which prints out the following:— a) whether ship is in Open waters or in a confined channel; b) _ gives maximum squats and where they occur; ©) gives remaining underkeel clearances at bow and stern; ) gives the speed required for the vessel to go aground at the bow and at the stern. This computer program covers all types of ships, for all relevant speeds, and is able to predict for both open water and confined channel conditions. —26 —Shipboard personnel such as the master and deck officers need to know about the theory and possible dangers resulting from excessive squat. Ship pilots also need a detailed appreciation of this topic when assisting, with the passage of ships along narrow rivers and through canals. "2. A third group of personnel needing to know about ship squat is the Port Authorities. Some of them, aware of possible grounding problems, “request” a static minimum underkeel clearance of 1-0m to 1-25m before allowing entry of a vessel into their river. "(2® Maximum transit speed is also “requested”. In the past there has been a tendency to overestimate squat on certain routes and to underload the cargo accordingly. Now that squat can predicted be more accurately, the ship can sometimes be loaded up an extra few centimetres giving the vessel extra earning capacity. Loadline limits, of course, always have to be adhered to. In the past ship’s pilots have used ‘trial and error’, ‘rule of thumb’ and years of experience to bring their vessels safely into and out of port. The positioning of a simple graph of ship speed against maximum squat placed on the bridge may be all that is required. See figure 2 for such an example. The pilot can observe quickly from this graph a speed that could cause problems and then a speed that would give a squat which would leave the ship with a safe dynamical underkeel clearance. By maintaining the ship’s trading availability, this paper assists in safeguarding and possibly increasing the shipowners annual profit. After all, prevention is better than cure. ..... and a lot CHEAPER ! 7FIGURE |. SHIP IN A CANAL IN STATIC CONDITION Ag = ¢RoSs-Section oF SHIP AT Amosmes = bxT. Ac = CRoSs- SECTION oF CANAL = Bx H. Blockace Facror=s = PS = bxT Be BeH. Yo = STATIC UNDERKEEL CLEARANCE. Nevociy -RevuRn FaAcTor = Sp * We RANGE IS No Te bo. BLocKASE FaAcYor RANGE WIDTH oF WFLVENTE = FE = \S O-1lo0 To 0-265, Eauivacesy Boo opew 2 Bb WATER. Ve = SPEED OF Sie coves SHE GRoOvVND, IW KNOTS, As ST HESte S, Also = BS _ Aw eee ene ee eee -28-——S— SES ea aE eee eS eS Se SHIP SPSED VIN KNors. A 2 <4 < 8 lo le a os y z r : v FE 3 w 2) 6 » Z 4 r ze $ Wsas' E @ 5 a a cow ¥ 4} 204) x T a 5 £ FIGURE 2 MAXIMUM SQUATS AGAINST SHIP SPEED FoR A 2@50,000t Vcc. ee 1 Ho= WAvYER DEPTH, Y= SHIPS EVEN KEEL TT SYATIC DRAFT, ASsuME svamic YG = Lio For SRAPHS SS TS OO FOR SEAPHS arsSHIP SPEED Vy IN KNOTS MAXIMUM SQUAT IN FEET, 204 DOVYED LWE__ LLL DENOTES SHIP IS INA CONFINED CHANREL WRERE S = 0-100 To oes MAK SQUAT IN METRES, SOuDd LWE DENOTES SHIP IS IN OPEN Maver WHERE HE © lioto | FIGURE 3. MAXIMUM SHIP SQUATS IN CONFINED SHANNELS AND IN OPEN WATER CONDITIONS. swewyee. [egrcases, [Ser Tyee. [LOS Se, ules 2.860 Isewetar carso| 0-Joo SUPERTAWKER | 0-825 |Passe® wer. 062s OL TARKER 2800 COMTAWER SHIP, o-Scs Bux cARRIER 2750 COASTAL TUS o: 500 230=m eee. eee See eee ees = = -— = APPENDIX Worked Example The following information is known for an oil tanker operating in a wide river. Breadth of ship (m) Width of river (m) Depth of water (m) Even keel static draught (m) ic . 0-830 Ship speed (kts) u a) determine whether this oil tanker is in open water conditions or in a confined channel situation, b) calculate the maximum squat ‘f'max by THREE methods and suggest, with reasoning, whereabouts on the vessel it occurs. Answer-— a) Fy=7-7+20[1—C,? =7-7 + 20[1 — 0-830}? therefore F, = 8-278 ship breadths = 8-278 x 55 = 455-29m Width of river is given as being 478m. Width of influence is less, at 455:29m. Hence this oil tanker is operating in open water conditions. Any width of water greater than 455-29m will give similar ‘/,,, value. Thus, use width of influence value of 455-29m. b) Blockage factor = S = bx T / Bx H = 55x 125 / 455-29 x 14.5, therefore S = 0-104 Note #/, = 145 / 125 = 1-16 Velocity return factor = S, =$ / 1—S$ = 0-104 / 10-104 therefore S, = 0-116 Method 1 23 208 Max squat = ‘f',,=C,/ 30x52 x Vx metres therefore ‘f.,,, = 0-830 / 30 x 0-116 x 117% therefore ‘I... = 0-97 metre ow —31—Metho: ‘Fou =CyxVg_ / 100 metres for open water conditions ‘T ggq = 0-830 x 11? / 100 therefore ‘f',,,, = 1.00 metre at the bow Method 3 6xS] +0-400 =[ 6 x 0-104] + 0-400 therefore K = 1.024 Prue =Kx(Cyx Vg / 100) metres = 1-024 x (0830 x 11? / 100) = 1.03 metres at the bow say Will occur at the bow because this tanker was on an even keel when static and she had a C, > 0-700, Methods 2 and 3 err on the high and therefore safe side when compared to the more complicated Method 1. If we take the average ‘fas being 1-00m, minimum remaining or dynamic underkeel clearance is 1-00m whilst travelling at a forward speed of 11 knots. A fourth method sometimes used ‘rule of thumb’ by ships’ pilots to predict Fog is Vous VE. / 100, ie. 1? / 100 = 1-21m at the bow, this again estimating on the high and safe side. —32—1 2. PNOuEye ee Yemeee ele ee eee t ee 13. 1 2. a S =~ = SS m1. 12. 14. 15. 16. References* C. B. Barrass “Further discussion on Squat”, SEAWAYS March 1994 C. B. Barrass “Changes of trim as a ship squats’, SEAWAYS October 1994 Related reading — research papers by C. B. Barrass Ship Squat Manual — involving 23 years of research. Width of influence and depth of influence for ships in open waters Measurement procedures for squat on ships. Ship speed Vx in a river having tidal flow or current. Reduction of ship speed and propeller rpm for vessels in shallow waters. Ship squat coefficients for vessels with specified block coefficients /blockage factors. Squatting of ships crossing /overtaking in a confined channel Computer program using BASIC for predicting ship squat. Ship squat — a guide to masters. Bibliography survey listing 115 references re ship squat. Ship handling problems of vessels in shallow waters. Problems of underloading a ship due to squat in an ebb tide situation Change of trim characteristics for a ship squatting in shallow water conditions. Twenty Questions . .. and Answers, on the phenomenon of ship squat. Anyone interested in acquiring any of these listed papers should apply to Dr. C. B. Barras directly or through the Nautical Institute secretariat at Lambeth Road, London. Extra notes Questions “from the floor” after the lecture: Have the DTp issued any ’M’ notices making reference to ship squat ? ‘How is squat affected when one vessel overtakes another vessel in a narrow river? Are the increases 25%, 50% or 100% ? Whaat is “transverse squat” on container vessels and modern supertankers? From which areas of the world have measured full-size squats been analysed ? Answers to these 4 questions given on separate sheet (see over page). —33—Answers to questions on page 33 7h ‘Yes; the DTp have issued several ‘M’ notices making reference to ship squat plus notes on interaction. These notices are numbered as follows:— M 854 (August 1978), M 930 (April 1980), M 1015 (March 1982) and M 1470 (November 1991). When the amidships of both vessels are in line with each other across the river the squats of both vessels when moving ahead can be increased by 50% 40 100% compared to a single ship moving ahead up the river. In the situation described in answer 2, both vessels will move towards each other accompanied by an angle of heel. The bilge plating of both vessels nearest to the river banks will move nearer to the river bed. This is “transverse squat”, that is, loss or decrease of underkeel clearance. Too much “transverse squat” causes grounding and damage of the bilge keel and/or bilge keel plating strakes. Measured full-size squats have been studied from the following areas:— St. Lawrence Seaway, Panama Canal, Malacca Straits, Persian Gulf, Lake Maracaibo, Manchester Ship Canal, River Gironde, River Elbe, River Tees, River Humber, Port Wellington and Bromborough Lock. 33,= - —_—s—-es- oe ee The Voith Water Tractor and its uses we ron Water Tractor and its uses S.R. Taylor BSc(Hons). Partner, E.C. Goldsworthy & Co. What is a Voith Water Tractor What is a Voith Water Tractor ‘The principal characteristics of a modem Voith Water Tractor ( see fig. 1) are ~ +; Twin Voith Schneider propellers arranged athwartships no more than 30%Iw from forward. 2. fA Rozzle or guard plate which acts both to augment thrust and protect the propeller blades from grounding or contact with another vessel's hull. The construction of the supporting ms fe cuich that @ modem guard arrangement should be able to withstand very high te nat Crees without the propeller blades suffering damage or the watertight integrity of the hull being compromised. 5 A stabilising fin aft. This was originally conceived and designed as an aid to course Stability but in the early development it was found that this fin has significant uses in towing, indeed special towing concepts and procedures were developed to utilise the effects of the fin. 4 One set of towing gear, now almost exclusively from a winch (tractor crews never trust ships lines) through a towing bollard or staple situated over the centre of the fin ( in Practical terms this point is a compromise position, for towing ahead of a vessel the ideal routine operation. 5. Reduced tug manning and the need for all-round visibility during towing operations has led to the small central wheelhouse, in some cases for one man operation with al Propeller engine and winch controls arranged on a central control stand, A brief history lesson th the early 1950's Voith in Germany developed a new style tug in response to tug losses through girting and being overrun under a ships bow ( see fig. 2). The fundamental change Was that the Voith Schneider propellers to be used were arranged forward and the towing point aft to avoid the unstable equilibrium which existed with a conventional tug’s midship {owing point and propulsion aft. In manoeuvring with this forward propelled vessel, the inmediate difference was that it steered in to a tum rather than the stem swinging outside the turning circle as with stem propelled vessels. The introduction of such vessels Known in generic form as Voith Water Tractors was obviously slow in the eartier days but they now umber approximately 600 world-wide ( with free-running speeds up to 15 knots and bollard Pulls in excess of 70 tonnes ) and have had a major influence in tug safety. Towage requirements The requirement for towage assistance may taken as the period when the ships reduced Speed means thal she is no longer under total self control ( see fig. 3) and has insufficient Sea room 0 manoeuvre safely without extemal assistance. This period however may be Somewhat extended by the modem requirement for escort services for ships carting fully controlled] : Breaking and steering free running, self controlled assistance -< |=Fig ts Voith Water Tractor Safety A direct steering mode B indirect steering modeVoith Water Tractor Braking assistance in negative flow conditionsa a er er eae ene eee ce ee “OH NO, NOT ANOTHER BLOODY EXPERT” A talk on the Practical Aspects of Ship Handling Captain Jeremy Walker, MNI, Humber Pilot 13th. September, 1995 acAcknowledgements Firstly to all Pilots on the River Humber tor their witicisms, some of which are included in this document. and to all Ship Handlers who. at some time or another have experienced the heart stopping situations related to. Secondly to my son and his tiancee who helped me re-type the document after the original computer disc “crashed”. forcing us to re-do the whole thing again from the original draft copy And finally - to my wife tor her help - without her sitting patiently listening to me bleating the text to her while she checked for timing and sensibility I could not have completed the task. - 45 -When Richard Coates first asked me last November if | would give a talk to this assembled company. | have to admit to being absolutely territied at the prospect. How could |. a simple sailor, possibly be able to address such an eminent gathering about something so technical as Squat and Interaction? Richard then assured me that all he wanted me to do was to give you a chat on the practical aspects of ship-handling when actually experiencing the effects of Squat and Interaction - assuming of course that [ knew what it was! I'm afraid that that is exactly what vou are going to get. and [ hope that it will be of some use to you. ie /h no. not another bloody expert. I wonder how many times in my career as a Pilot on the Humber I have heard that particular phrase? A letter would go up on the notice board in our day room informing us that an expert on Squat or Interaction or Tug Handling would be giving a lecture to all Humber Pilots at the Crest Hotel on a certain date, and that our presence would be required at the lecture. No excuses for not attending would be allowed - except being dead (by prior arrangement) or actually being at work on the river during the course of the lecture. Then you would hear it - “Oh God, not another bloody expert telling us how to do our job”. And there would be deep felt hurt in the voice too - here we are, acknowledged experts in our field who brave the elements day and night (mostly at night it always seems) and now here's some bloke who's probably never handled a ship in his life. coming to tell us how to do it. And I have to admit that I have said it myself - | am an expert - and what can I learn from some bloke with a Ph.D? Well, of course, it is not as simple as that as I hope to show. If may brietly digress to tell you my personal career history, so that you can decide for yourself (a) whether I am qualified to make statements on these subjects. and (b) whether or not you want to go to sleep now rather than later. | went to sea after 3 years at the local nautical college with Alfred Holt & Co."s Blue Funnel Line as a starry eyed midshipman, set to be a Captain on a big ship. It didn’t take me long to realise that the bit that really interested me was the bit at each end - the docking and river passages - and there was this strange bod who climbed up a ladder and seemed to do it all for us. After ten years. | emerged from Ocean Fleets - as it then was - with a Master's F. G. Ticket. and in order to be available for the Pilot service when they were recruiting, took a job as a Hovercraft Commander with SeaSpeed. and spent 4 years charging round on the big puff of wind. After several applications to the Pilotage Committee it was obvious that something was amiss. and in order to justify their ~ 46 =requirement that | was “at sca”. joined the mighty Hullgates Shipping Corporation of Grimsby. and was relief Master on their two 4.000 DW'T coastal tankers for 6 months. Therefore vou could + had what is commonly termed a “chequered career” rd me as having I joined the Humber Pilot Service as a Third Class Pilot in March 1975 and am currently a VLS Pilot with the service. Of the 150 pilots on the Humber, there is an inner list of 35 senior pilots who handle the VLS‘s (the VLCC’s and the large Bulk Carriers) and with some 60-70 VLS movements per month. a VLS man should handle around 23 of these vessels per year (so how come I don’t get my fair share!) In between times, of course. in our normal work of handling some 230-240 ships per year over our very complex district. we get to see just about all types of ship. One day you can be on a 290,000 DWT tanker with all it's attendant electronic wizardry. and the next on a 350 ton coaster with one tea-bag to share amongst all the crew, SQUA’ I will now try to get down to the nitty-gritty. and deal with squat and it’s problems first. I'm afraid it will have to be split into two entirely different aspects, as our district is so complex. and the effects of squat are felt in two entirely different environments, thus they are handled in two totally different ways. Perhaps if I can deal with the slightly more ordered world of the Lower River first. and the large ships. Let us take, for example, a VLS inward to the Immingham Oil Terminal, or the British Steel Corporation Jetty. On issue. the details of the vessel will be given to the VLS pilot, who will then do his sums. A nominal allowance for squat (as per Humber Passage Plan) of 10°, or 8% in some cases with the Harbour Master’s permission. on top of the drafi. is allowed. and that is really the end of the matter. Simple? If only it was so! One consideration is what Suzanne Charlton has to say on the BBC weather forecast that night. wind direction plays a large part in determining what could happen to the tide over the next period of rise and fall - will there be a cut or a surge in the tide? Your 10% underkeel clearance can disappear very quickly. Of course we know the depth of water available at Chart Datum throughout the passage, and a simple quick calculation is all that is required to ascertain whether we can give her “the music” or not. Thank heavens for our boffins then, we say. where have all the criticisms gone? For. of course. this is where our eminent friends come into their own - they have made us aware of the problems. and have given us these quick and easy rules to apply to keep us out of trouble. The fact is that without all the technical research, and information gleaned from it being made easily available to us simple sailors. then we would quickly = 47 - — eee acome to an expensive halt, 1. tor one, do not deery the explanations for all these peculiar phenomena that haunt us on dark winter nights. at least not when I'm in a sober and sensible mood - after a “safe arrival party” T might, but not in the cold hard world of a ship's bridge at night when things start to go a little wrong. The passage of one of these large ships is normally undertaken in an ordered and civilised manner - regular broadcasts by VI'S Humber alert other tratfic on the river as to our progress along the wav. and tide gauge readings are given to us continuously, Providing the tide behaves itself then there are no real problems. But what happens when things are not so ordered? A tidal cut can create heart-stopping situations. The positioning of some of the berths leaves something to be desired, and the attendant set of current across these berths makes a slack water berthing absolutely essential. Timing is paramount, but what if, ten miles from the berth the tide has not risen sufficiently to allow you to pass over a shallow patch in order to reach the berth at the prescribed time? I do not intend to regale you with tales of “derring do” because I “derring don’t”. these vessels are not to be thrown about, and anyone who has tried has come to grief. And why? It used to happen in the bad old days when people just did not understand the effects of squat, and it has taken esearch projects by such speakers as you have already heard today to bring the effects to our notice, and to make us, the experts, aware of what can happen. It makes us realise that. if possible, a relationship with the bottom of the river is to be avoided at all costs, even a mild flirtation can be disastrous. The problems start when we are committed to a passage through a narrow channel, and the tide unexpectedly does stop rising, Well I’m afraid that it is back to seat of the pants driving - something that we did by instinct in SeaSpeed - and that ship Masters and Pilots have had to do for years, After all with a good run of tide and a fair wind many a sailing ship has reached a good speed in shallow waters. and must have suffered squat without knowing what it was - contrary to popular belief I was not around at the time, and couldn't help. Nor. | would hasten to add, was all the research that we rely on today to assist us. How do we do it? Well as | said - it's seat of the pants stuff. You have to ease the ship through and take things very gently. The first signs are the obvious ones = loss of speed. the curling wash. loss of control generally. and the faithful dipping of the bow. Reactions have to vary. and cannot be generalised, but the golden rule is to be gentle. I remember years ago as a Third Mate on watch as we were passing through the Suez Canal. listening to the Canal Pilot telling us how he had saved the Canal trom certain total destruction only the day before. He had countermanded the — 48 -order of the Master of this huge tanker - she was probably around the 40,000 ton mark - when the ship had lost control due to too much power being used on the engines as she had passed into a shallower part of the canal. The Master had, on a panic reaction, ordered an increase in engine power to regain control and our brave friend had saved the day’ by ordering a reduction in power - of course he was right. but probably hadn’t a clue why he was right - it was just plain instinct. He had been there before and done it and knew that it worked. And that is how it is done in the heat of the moment - but of course it is now done much more scientifically - I can shout and scream in logarithms and cube roots now! Other problems that can occur are on the approach to the berth at the Bulk Terminal at Immingham. There is plenty of water alongside the berth - a nice neat trench has been dredged alongside so that the vessel can sit in it at low water - but how the devil do you get it there? The water on the approach is not so deep. and it can be great fun making the ship do what you want, even at the low speed that you have come down to, to make the approach. Not long ago the Master of a 185,000 ton bulker commented to me how well | had got the speed off on the approach - what I didn’t tell him was that we were dredging the approach - that’s usually the time when you hide your VHF speaker under your coat because the ever-so-helpful after tug Skipper has just called you up to tell you that you are chucking up “bloody great lumps of mud with your engines pilot” In the world of the supertanker and large bulker where money is plentiful and an extra tug here and there doesn’t really matter (I wish) as long as you don’t miss the tide, who cares how many problems you, as the pilot. have had on the way up? If you've had to stop and abort (or any other bodily function that takes your fancy) on the way up due to lack of water. then no one will blame you. and what's more you can prove it on paper afterwards. It all looks so good when she drops alongside and is made fast, the agent boards. the captain puts away his worry beads, and offers you a glass of lemonade to quench your thirst. aah life is good! Of course there are other problems that have to be coped with - the low water sailing of a ferry from Immingham or Hull and the crawl through Halton Middle or Grimsby Roads at just after Low Water. again the same principle applies - easy does it. I must admit that | have been in a situation before now. and I've no doubt it will happen again, where Draft has actually equalled depth of water available. and the phrase “navigable mud” has been used to great effect. Unfortunately in these situations. the echo sounder is of little use. the navigable mud is so thin that the energy pulses from the sounder penetrate right through it to the harder mud ~ 49 - 5 5 5 J J J ' ! J } J J I | J ] | | | |underneath and indicate a probable workable depth. You will tind that a Pilot will tend to disregard the echo sounder, and watch the wake of a ship for the tell-tale signs of proximity to the bottom - that usually’ starts to happen before the bow drops and is therefore a better early warning system than the other signs. A ship will definitely start to “pull” her water before she starts to sheer or experience a drop of the bow One effect pointed out to us in the past is the effect of the wash spreading out and causing a ship to “perform” alier leaving a narrow dredged channel. At the western end of our dredged channel where it re-joins the “main channel” the dredged part of the area is totally artificial as it’s name implies. We therefore have the effect of a vessel leaving a trench and returning to a much wider channel, This phenomena of swirling water creating handling difficulties has never caused me any problems, probably because the river is very wide at this particular point and the water dragged out has ample room to dissipate. Of course having said that I have put my size 11 foot in my big mouth. and the next one that 1 bring up will all turn to rat manure at that point just to prove me wrong! In a similar vein, there is a problem that is peculiar to our port of Grimsby. Many of the vessels that run to the port are too long to lock in, so they must enter and leave when there is a “level”. Leaving the lock outward bound can be fun particularly on a good spring tide - the “run- in” can be something to behold. Two instances come to mind - I stood on the lock one day and watched a large Ro-Ro ship transiting the lock outward. This particular ship, “specially designed” of course to run to Grimsby. was maximum size for the lock with a beam allowing arouzd 50 cms. clearance on each side and a draft giving a 2 metre clearance over the dock cill. The ship manoeuvred very slowly into the “square” and lined up, and then proceeded to move through the lock. Of course the inevitable happens - it grinds to a halt - the “cork in the bottle” syndrome. Eventually after a time it started to move again - but what really amazed me was the amount that the vessel sank towards the bottom when the engines were given more power. As is common with all these ferries there is a discreet company name painted on the side in ‘small. insignificant letters around three metres high. and the base of these letters were at around coping stone height. When the engines were powered up in an attempt to force the “cork out of the bottle” these letters were half disappearing indicating how much the vessel was being sucked towards the bottom. Only a few months ago I had a similar experience On a car carrier - not maximum beam for the lock and certainly not near the cill, yet a similar effect was felt. and in order to get the ship out of the lock against the “run in” the engines had to be repeatedly “backed off” and then powered up again. Both the Master and | were amazed at how ot) amuch the vessel rose up and then sank down again each time this process was carried out - that ship was a powerful. well found British car carrier with a sea speed of around I4 knots, and vet on full sea speed she was just sitting in the lock and not moving Inward bound through the same locks in a similar situation is good fun too - white knuckles on the bridge front dodgers and the telegraph full back is a common sight. Actually that is one situation were we do experience the effect of the dragging of water out of a trench into a larger area - but quite honestly vou are so concerned about not hitting the ship that has been left on the berth just inside the locks - again - that you don’t have time to think about it. Of course life on the lower part of the river is not all as ordered as it should be, we have our skeletons in the cupboard - our holes in the bank ~ premier installations that take some believing. even when you've seen them. Forging through the mud on the bottom is commonplace in these places, and if you don't quite make it then a shore crane will have a ship's rope attached to it and they'll haul you into place. Of course we are now not so much in the technical world, as in the realms of brute force over ignorance. A non-nautical friend once asked me how I would describe my job in a phrase, and I confidently replied that I considered myself to be a Professional Ship Handler with expert local knowledge. When I had said it, I then recalled that only a few nights before | had been unceremoniously hauled into position by a Volvo dump truck at Barrow Clay Pits, an Ocean Terminal now thankfully resigned to the scrap heap. Nevertheless these places all form part of life’s multi- coloured vista for the Humber Pilot. So let us now move to the dark world of the upper reaches of the Humber ~ the Ouse and Trent. Here all is different - anarchy rules OK. and if you don’t get the ship to it’s berth, the agent is on the phone complaining that he’s got 450 lorries and 58 gangs of dockers standing around idle - the usual hard luck tale of disappearing profits. and imminent berth closures due to the inadequacies of pilots in general. Again the problems of navigating in an exceptionally fast flowing current are all too evident - strong cross sets of 4 and 5 knots are common. and this with little or no underkeel clearance. Welcome to the world of mud piloting! When I joined the Humber Pilot service in 1975. it was to pilot the ships that led a more ordered life. and apart from the places that weren't mentioned in polite company we never. but never. put a ship purposely aground - an unheard of sin that meant the “horse-shoe” ( a disciplinary hearing in front of the Pilotage Committee ) and a good dressing down oirfFrece = L = (ete = Toe = plus a black mark on your record, In 1988. with the coming of Pilotage Reorganisation, everything changed. and the Humber. Ouse and ‘rent Pilotage services were amalgamated. Training was undertaken and pilots, from the 3 services were retrained for the whole district. I think then that we all began to realise that there was much more to life than we had all become so used to. I personally enjoyed the challenge of learning two new districts, and it was to be in such a totally different environment. that the interest level was raised to new heights Let us now examine the usual scenario. The phone tinkles delicately in your ear at around 2200, and you are awakened from fitful cat-napping to be told that you are required to be at the office an hour later to come to Spurn for boarding - and now the good news - you're bound for the Trent, and she’s maximum draft for the tide. You drag yourself into the shower and listen to the wind lashing against the bathroom windows, and it fills you with foreboding - you cheerily wave bye-bye to your wife. and tell her not to expect you back for a few days - afier all the tides are dropping off now. and if you make a cock of this one you'll be aground for at least a week! You arrive at the office to be greeted by the other Pilots, smug grins on faces - all it seems bound for places in the lower river - lucky sods - they'll be back home in bed just as you run aground on the Whittons or fetch up all standing in Meredyke - still you have to give it a go. On boarding the ship at Spurn - the Master cheerily tells you that his draft is exactly 4.982 metres, which immediately makes you suspicious - they are never that accurate unless they are lying through their teeth, and you wonder exactly what the draft really is. There's no point in going full speed as you'll have to wait for water anyway. The advent of remote reading gauges at VTS has improved the situation immensely over the Past year or so. Technology has finally reached the River Humber! The main problem we have operating in the upper reaches is that things can. and do, change very quickly. Channels have been known to silt up by as much as half a metre between tides - the changes are not usually that violent but it is always possible that a reduction in available depth can catch you totally unawares. The signs of squat in these circumstances are, as I said before, many and varied. Up there in the dark and mystical world we have come to know. they manifest themselves somewhat differently You have to remember that when transiting the channels particularly around the Brough area, You are never travelling in a straight line - the amount of cross-set is quite alarming, and the track made good bears no relation to the ship's heading so the usual signs are not apparent in the same way - mind vou there is Susone sign that means the same wherever vou are - if your wash actually overtakes you, then you know something is not quite right Again the echo-sounder is of little or no use. The first sign that any pilot will listen for is the roar of the wash. Secondly the engines will start to labour and the speed will fall off. Thirdly the ship will start to vaw about - a note here - once above the Humber Bridge it is the practice for the Pilot to actually steer the ship himself. it alarms some strangers to the river but it is a practice that is deep-rooted and enables us to detect proximity to the bottom far more quickly than a helmsman telling us that the ship is not steering - there are other reasons that will become apparent later when I talk about Interaction. Fourthly there is the dropping of the bow. I have to say that the latter is usually just before it all goes very wrong- by that time you have reduced power, and are crawling along hoping like hell that you haven’t got your sums wrong. If it does all go wrong? Well you hope that you have indeed got a spare pair of socks and underpants with you - otherwise after a while you start to eat alone in the ship's mess-room. I must emphasise here that groundings of this type do not happen very often - to say that it never happens would be being “economical with the truth” as politicians have taught us to do so well over the years! Pilots do not put ships aground on purpose - like most people they hate paperwork and it is far quicker to get it right than to spend hours writing reports. It usually comes about because of a failure of some type, be it mechanical or of the honesty variety on the part of the Captain with regards to the draft, Brief pauses on the bottom are, however, commonplace. Ribald comments are usually passed over the air - “just doing a bit of sounding are we?” or “just paused to reassess the situation” or the favourite phrase which has a lot of sense in it - “just waiting for a bit more water”. INTERACTION Enough for the moment on Squat - let me now turn to Interaction. Again the effects of this phenomena are felt in two different ways in the differing parts of the district. In the Lower River the effect is most strongly felt when actually entering and transiting a lock or dock. particularly on the “level” - you just don’t pass that close to other ships. well not intentionally anyway! In the upper reaches again all is different - channels are much narrower. the time factor is much more relevant as the - 53 -time “window” is much shorter. and the proximity of ships to each other is therefore greatly intensified To illustrate the problems I will try to talk vou through an outward sailing from say the River Trent. Pilots are ordered through to the berths on the River Trent to sail ships literally when thev float. They may be afloat when you get to them. but there certainly won't be enough water in the river reaches at that moment, but by the time vou are moving there will be. You let go and proceed. Problem number one - as you pass the berths where other ships are laid. you can’t pass too far away from them as there isn’t much water in the middle of the river. and the opposite bank is still dry, so you are forced to pass close - and | mean close - to the ships on their berths. You feel that you must do the correct thing here and reduce speed while you pass them. Problem number two - you are fighting the flood tide in order to make sure that you ‘get all the way through” to sea - so you slow down to a safe speed to pass the other berths. You are now steaming backwards over the ground past the other ships still tied up. You can see the looks on the other pilots faces as they grin over the bridge wings, and you feel rather silly, pile on the power again and crawl past them pretending that you arent making any wash! Of course the reduction of speed followed by an increase has allowed you to drop in quite close to the other ship you are trying to pass, and you are now some 5 metres off him with - in effect - a ten knot current running between you - ooops I here you say, what now? Well I'm afraid that there is no formula, no magic solution, you literally just steer the ship clear. 1 cannot say what it is that we do or exactly what avoiding oPevasive action we take, we just do it - half the time we don’t even look at the tudder indicator as there is no time. I mentioned before that we steer the ships ourselves above the Bridge - to expect a man on the wheel to do as you ask him i.e. put on a lot of wheel towards a ship that is literally a few metres away, is asking too much, and the consequent delay could be disastrous - the Master would probably interfere as well and add to the confusion - we are much better being confused all on our own without outside help, after all we are the experts! Eventually you clear the berths and you then attempt one of the bends The tide is still coming at you at around 7 - 8 knots. and you are barely making headway over the ground. Again there is only water on the outside of the bend - and the outside of the bend is stoned to reduce bank erosion and increase the Pilots’ heart rate. You will see some alarming angles to the banks generated by the manoeuvres that we carry out - and to try to relate them to you would be folly - to be honest we don’t have time to look at the rudder indicator anyway. and because you are pulling the water away trom the bank, and the old man is tapping vou on the = 54 -shoulder and telling you he can sce the bottom of the river. well Tm afraid theory has long since gone down the Swany I recently watched a very ancient video at Spurn on Interaction. and the model displays were fascinating - if only I could get the ships up the Trent and Ouse to perform in the same way I would be a very happy man. There are of course general rules of thumb with regard to anticipating what may happen - the helm will alwavs need to be towards the bank that you are close to, in order to keep the ship straight - what the rules don’t cater for is the unexpected. such as the sudden build-up of mud on a straight stretch of the river that certainly wasn’t there last tide. That could have been caused by one of the many river barges having had a “pause” on the bottom and creating a little lump. What is even more fun is that it probably won't be there next tide, and when you sheer off the bank to avoid it, ( expert local knowledge here!! ) right into the track of an oncoming ship, the other pilot wonders what on earth you are up to. One good example is the “other ship syndrome” - the loss of control not of your ship, but of another one. As I said before the closeness is sometimes quite alarming to a stranger - as indeed it is to us. and the nightmare of an overtaking or passing manoeuvre coming to a sticky end is always present, Ships do take unplanned sheers - usually due to the pilot treading on to the ship’s cat in the darkened wheelhouse, which then leaps on to the automatic pilot switching it “on"~of course the damned thing is not lined up and as it attempts to bring the ship on to an entirely spurious heading, all hell is let loose. Seriously - overtaking manoeuvres can be very dicey, but I hasten to add necessary if all the ships are to reach the open sea in one tide. The time scale does not allow for the niceties such as reducing speed to wait for more room to overtake - the water will be falling away at places further down the river, and in order to “make it all the way”, you just have to push on and get past the slower ships. Of course we don’t take risks but we do have to be extremely careful - co-operation between pilots is essential. To retum to the more ordered world of the Lower River. Interaction is not experienced in quite the same way. Channels are wider and close proximity situations are just not generated on purpose. They do of course occur when things go wrong and as the ship sizes are larger. can be more spectacular if not handled correctly. Where we do experience the effects of Interaction is when entering, transiting. and leaving locks. The worst case is usually a large bulker for Hull or Immingham - probably maximum draft for the dock, maximum beam allowing a | Scm.clearance each side and around 200metres long. The Master will meet you with his worry beads already in his hand which gives you a feeling of real confidence, and his opening gambit will be- “Please Mr. Pilot. no osdamage”. He will then go on to say that the company is on the verge of extinetion due to unpaid tug bills around the world. and can we get away with only using one tug. Usually a quick explanation that there will be about 4 - 5 knots of current across the lock when we enter, is enough to bring the Master to his senses. and we come to a compromise that ] won't bend his boat if he leaves me alone and we use the correct number of tugs! The channel to the dock is transited with the usual calmness associated with neither the Master or Pilot knowing what is in store for them. and the vessel is swung after the tugs are eventually made fast by the multi- national, multi-coloured. multi-lingual crew stirred into action bv the multi-lingual, multi-national, multi-coloured officers all conversing in pidgin English (of sorts). The approach to the lock is then carried out with apparent consummate ease in a stunned silence - the Master being too terrified to interfere. and the Pilot too keen to make it look easy, when in fact he is also too terrified to say too much, and is just hoping that everything will be alright on the night, It is when approaching the dock wall that things start to become exciting - the ship will be drawn inexorably towards the wall - accentuated by the effect of the tugs working the ship into the lock entrance. Even when lined up for the entrance, the ship will sheer about and actions taken are too varied and odd to be able to describe them in any sort of form that will make apparent sense, the Pilot will just drive by the seat of his pants. No two ships are alike, and even sister ships may perform in different ways in similar situations. The two vessels I had the privilege to command whilst in Hullgates Shipping were, although cf supposedly identical hull form, totally different animals. The “Hullgate”, when the wheel was put hard over and the engines kicked ahead, would move ahead through the water before starting to swing. The “Humbergate” would do the reverse - she would swing before starting to move - so in these circumstances how can one possibly lay down strict rules. Certainly there are the expected things that may happen - and the ranks of expert boffins will be able to describe why an accident has happened. but when the chips are down it is a totally different kettle of fish. At least the experts can examine what has apparently happened, and warn others of what to expect. In this area the mutual respect that we. as. the practical ship-handlers, and the theorists as advisers. have for each other is very apparent - we do not like doing damage - it is not what we are paid for, and if something is happening that we do not understand then we turn to the experts for a calm, cool, and reasoned assessment of the problem. After all we have done more than enough panicking for both sides when it all went wrong entering the lock or bouncing over the Siabottom in the upper reaches! They in turn. of course. would have little to do if we weren't here doing our thing day in. day out, occasionally coming to grief ~ now there's an admission - and between us we can help to avoid the accidents that do. inevitably. happen - 57 -