JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.

Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City

BSMT Department

SEAM 2A – TRIM, STABILITY AND STRESS

Midterm

Compiled by:

CM CARRLOS D. VICTORIANO III

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Module II (MIDTERM)
Lesson 7 – Buoyancy

Intended Learning Outcomes

LO 7.1: State that the force of buoyancy is an upward force on a floating object created by the
pressure of liquid on the object
LO 7.2: States that the buoyancy force is equals to the displacement of a floating object
LO 7.3: Describes reserve buoyancy
LO 7.4:Explains the importance of reserve buoyancy
LO 7.5: Explain the purpose of load lines
LO 7.6: explains the requirements for maintaining watertight integrity
LO 7.7: Demonstrates the understanding of damage stability requirements for certain vessels
LO 7.8: explains reasons for damage stability requirements
LO 7.9: Identifies damage stability requirements for Type A vessels, Type (B-60) and Type (B-
100) vessels
LO 7.10: Identifies equilibrium condition after flooding for Type A, and all Type B vessels
LO 7.11: identifies damage stability requirements for passenger vessels

Guide Questions

1. What is force of buoyancy

2. What is reserve buoyancy
3. nWhat is the purpose of Load Line?
4. Why is it necessary for ships to have Load Lines?
5. What exactly is a Load Line?
6. What are the marking on a Load line?
7. What are the different types of Load Lines?
8. What is the purpose of loadline mark and assigned freeboard
9. What is the purpose of maintaining water tight integrity
10. What is ship damage stability requirement for vessel of:
i. Type a
ii. Type (B-60)
iii. Type (B-100)
11. What is ship damage stability requirement for passenger vessel?

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Buoyancy
is an upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of a partially or fully immersed
object? In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the
overlying fluid.

The name of this upward force exerted on objects submerged in fluids is the buoyant force.
So why do fluids exert an upward buoyant force on submerged objects?

The buoyancy force is caused by the pressure exerted by the fluid in which an object is
immersed. The buoyancy force always points upwards because the pressure of a fluid
increases with depth.

https://youtu.be/_p-hwElkrlk Archimedes principle made easy

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Reserve buoyancy

It has already been shown that a floating vessel must displace its own weight of water.
Therefore, it is the submerged portion of a floating vessel which provides the buoyancy. The
volume of the enclosed spaces above the waterline are not providing buoyancy but are being
held in reserve. If extra weights are loaded to increase the displacement, these spaces above
the waterline are there to provide the extra buoyancy required. Thus, reserve buoyancy may be
defined as the volume of the enclosed spaces above the waterline. It may be expressed as a
volume or as a percentage of the total volume of the vessel.

Reserve buoyancy is a very important factor in determining a ship's seaworthiness

minimum freeboards are assigned to a ship to ensure that there is adequate reserve
buoyancy at all times.
https://youtu.be/QUgXf2Rj2YQ - metacenter

Load line

In 1876, Samuel Plimsoll introduced a law into Parliament that meant that ships were
assigned certain freeboard markings above which, in particular conditions, they were not
allowed to load beyond. Prior to this law a great many ships were lost at sea mainly due to
overloading. In 1930 and in 1966, international conferences modified and expanded these
statutory regulations dealing with the safety of ships. These regulations have been further
improved over the years by conference meetings every 3 or 4 years up to the present day.
One such organization was the Safety of Life at Sea organization (SOLAS). In recent years,
the IMO has become another important maritime regulatory body.

https://youtu.be/YpCyP1sM_cA - plimsoll lines/educational

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Load line is a special marking positioned amidships which depicts the draft of the vessel and the
maximum permitted limit in distinct types of waters to which the ship can be loaded.”

As a result of the numerous maritime accidents that have happened at sea due to over-loading
of vessels, the significance of having a standard maximum limit for ships was identified long
before. However, it took many years from then to have an International agreement for the
universal application of Load lines.

It was in 1930, when the first International Load Line Convention took place, after which, it was
periodically amended until the latest one that happened in 2003.

https://youtu.be/JJseCGdaiBo - plimsoll lines

The load lines and freeboard deck line must be painted in white or yellow on a dark
background, or in black on a light coloured background. The letters on each side of the load
Line disc, indicating the assigning authority, should be 115 mm in height and 75 mm in width. .

Penalty warning: According to the 1998 load line Regulations, if the appropriate load line on
each side of the ship was submerged when it should not have been then: The owner and
master are liable to an additional fine that shall not exceed £1000 for each complete centimetre
overloaded.

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

The ship’s load line marks. The centre of the disc is at a distance below the deck line equal
to the ship’s statutory freeboard. Then 540mm forward of the disc is a vertical line 25mm thick,
with horizontal lines measuring 230 , and 25mm on each side of it. The upper edge of the one
marked ‘S’ is in line with the horizontal line through the disc and indicates the draft to which the
ship may be loaded when floating in salt water in a Summer Zone. Above this line and pointing

aft is another line marked ‘F’, the upper edge of which indicates the draft to which the ship may
be loaded when floating in fresh water in a Summer Zone. If loaded to this draft in fresh water
the ship will automatically rise to ‘S’ when she passes into salt water. The perpendicular
distance in millimeters, between the upper edges of these two lines is therefore the ship’s Fresh
Water Allowance. When the ship is loading in dock water which is of a density between these
two limits ‘S’ may be submerged such a distance that she will automatically rise to ‘S’ when the
open sea and salt water is reached

https://youtu.be/YpCyP1sM_cA - Load line marks

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Purpose and Necessity of Load Lines

The fundamental purpose of a Load Line is to allot a maximum legal limit upto which a
ship can be loaded by cargo. By prescribing such limits, the risk of having the vessel
sailing with inadequate freeboard and buoyancy can be limited. A vessel should be
having sufficient freeboard at all times, any exceptions made will result in insufficient
stability and excessive stress on the ship’s hull. This is where load lines play an
important role, as it makes the task of detecting whether the vessel is over-loaded and
its freeboard tremendously easy and effortless.

However, since the buoyancy and immersion of the vessel largely depend on the type of
water and its density, it is not practical to define a standard freeboard limit for the ship at
all times. For this reason, the load line convention has put regulations which divides the
world into different geographical zones each having different prescribed load line.

For example, A vessel sailing in Winter on North Atlantic Ocean will have a greater
freeboard than on a voyage in Tropical Zones and Fresh waters.

https://youtu.be/6E0bT6B5Zm4 - load lines explain

Understanding Load Line Mark

As we have already defined above, Load Line is a special marking positioned

amidships. All vessels of 24 meters and more are required to have this Load line
marking at the centre position of the length of summer load water line.

There are two types of Load line markings:-

1. Standard Load Line marking – This is applicable to all types of vessels.
2. Timber Load Line Markings – This is applicable to vessels carrying timber cargo.

These marks shall be punched on the surface of the hull, making it visible even if the
ship side paint fades out. The marks shall again be painted with white or yellow colour
on a dark background / black on a light background. The complete Load line markings
consist of 3 vital parts.

1. Deck Line – It is a horizontal line measuring 300mm by 25mm. It passes through the
upper surface of the freeboard.
2. Load Line Disc – It is the 300mm diameter and 25mm thick round shaped disc. It is
intersected by a horizontal line. The upper edge of the horizontal line marks the ‘Summer
salt water line’ also known as ‘Plimsol Line’.

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

3. Load Lines – Load lines are horizontal lines extending forward and aft from a vertical line
placed at a distance of 540mm from the centre of the disc. They measure 230mm by
23mm. The upper surfaces of the load lines indicate the maximum depths to which the
ships maybe submerged in different seasons and circumstances.

https://youtu.be/6E0bT6B5Zm4 - load lines explain

S – Summer :- It is the basic freeboard line at the same level as the Plimsol Line. Other
load lines are marked based on this Summer freeboard line.

T – Tropical :- It is 1/48th of summer draft marked above the Summer load line.

W – Winter :- It is 1/48th of summer draft marked below the Summer load line.

WNA – Winter North Atlantic :- It is marked 50mm below the Winter load line. It applies
to voyages in North Atlantic ( above 36 degrees of latitude) during winter months.

F – Fresh Water :- It is the summer fresh water load line. The distance between S and F
is the Fresh Water Allowance (FWA).

TF – Tropical Fresh Water :- It is the fresh water load line in Tropical. It is marked above
the T at an amount equal to FWA.

Timber cargo vessels will have a second set of Load Lines marked similar to the
standard load lines positioned 540mm abaft the centre load line disc.

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

The letter marking of the timber load line are different and are prefixed by ‘L’ meaning
‘Lumber’.
LS – Lumber Summer :- Its upper edge marks the summer salt water timber load line. It is
situated at a specified level above the Plimsol line.
LW – Lumber Winter :- It is 1/36th of the lumber summer draft below LS.
LT – Lumber Tropical :- It is 1/48th of the lumber summer draft above LS.
LWNA – Lumber Winter North Atlantic :- It is at the same level as WNA.
LF – Lumber Fresh water :- It is situated above the LS by an amount equal FWA.
LTF – Lumber Tropical Fresh Water :- It is positioned above LT by an amount equal to FWA.

International Load line Certification

Every ship that has been surveyed and marked in accordance with the present Load
line convention are issued by the authorized administration, an International Load Line
Certificate. The certificate will have a validity of not more than 5 years and will contain
all vital information that includes the assigned freeboard and fresh water allowance.

It is to be noted that, after completion of a load line survey and issuance of the
certificate; no changes shall be made to the super structure, markings, equipment or
arrangements that has been covered under the survey. If such changes need to be
made, the authorized authority conducting the survey shall be,

https://youtu.be/6E0bT6B5Zm4
https://youtu.be/YpCyP1sM_cA
By Nachiketh Bhattathiri | In: Marine Navigation | Last Updated on September 11, 2019
https://youtu.be/6E0bT6B5Zm4
https://youtu.be/YpCyP1sM_cA

stability requirements

Type ‘A’ vessel: A ship that is designed to carry only liquid cargoes in bulk, and in which cargo
tanks have only small access openings, closed by watertight gasketed covers of steel or
equivalent material. The exposed deck must be one of high integrity. It must have a high
degree of safety against flooding, resulting from the low permeability of loaded cargo spaces
and the degree of bulkhead subdivision usually provided.
Type ‘B’ vessels: All ships that do not fall under the provisions for Type ‘A’ vessels. For these
ships it may be based on:

● The vertical extent of damage is equal to the depth of the ship.

● The penetration of damage is not more than 1/5 of the breadth moulded (B).
● No main transverse bulkhead is damaged.
● Ship’s KG is assessed for homogeneous loading of cargo holds, and for 50% of the
designed capacity of consumable fluids and stores, etc.

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 JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

Type (B-60) vessels: The vessel must have an LBP of between 100 and 150 m. It must
survive the flooding of any single compartment (excluding the machinery space). If greater than
150 m LBP, the machinery space must be considered as a floodable compartment. A typical ship
type for a Type (B-60) vessel is a bulk carrier

Type (B-100) vessels: The vessel must have an LBP of between 100 and 150 m. It must
survive the flooding of any two adjacent fore and aft compartments (excluding the machinery
space). If greater than 150 m LBP, the machinery space must be considered as a floodable
compartment. Such a vessel may be classified as a Type ‘A’ vessel.

n 2006, MSC 82 adopted comprehensive amendments to SOLAS chapter II-1 in relation to

subdivision and damage stability requirements in order to harmonize the provisions for
passenger and cargo ships.

The deterministic regulations for passenger ships in SOLAS were such that, based on the
assumed damage scenario (i.e. one-compartment or group of compartments flooding)
according to the ship’s factor of subdivision (function of length, number of passengers and
other elements), the maximum permissible length of a compartment (between two adjacent
bulkheads: subdivision) is obtained, which should ensure the ship remains afloat and stable.

The damage control plan and damage control booklet, which are required by SOLAS
regulation II 1/19, are intended to provide ships’ officers with clear information on the ship’s
watertight subdivision and equipment related to maintaining the boundaries and effectiveness
of the subdivision so that, in the event of damage to the ship causing flooding, proper
precautions can be taken to prevent progressive flooding through openings therein and
effective action can be taken quickly to mitigate and, where possible, recover the ship’s loss of
stability.

Freeboards of oil tankers and general cargo ships Oil tankers are permitted to have
more Summer freeboard than general cargo ships with a similar LBP. They are considered to be
safer ships for the following reasons:

1.They have much smaller deck openings in the main deck.

2.They have greater subdivision, by the additional longitudinal and transverse bulkheads.
3.Their cargo oil has greater buoyancy than grain cargo.
4.They have more pumps to quickly control ingress of water after a bilging incident.
5.Cargo oil has a permeability of about 5% whilst grain cargo has a permeability of 60%
to 65%. The lower permeability will instantly allow less ingress of water following a
bilging incident.
6.Oil tankers will have greater GM values. This is particularly true for modern double-skin
tankers and wide shallow draft tankers.

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JOHN B. LACSON FOUNDATION MARITIME UNIVERSITY (AREVALO), INC.
Sto. Nino Sur, Arevalo, Iloilo City
BSMT Department

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