External dynamics of ship collisions and grounding 123

Fig. 2.24 Sliding distance of foundation dmax as function of ship impact location.

perpendicular to the side shell of the ship. The total mass of the ship is in this example
assumed to be 10,000 tons, and the collision force is taken to be constant and equal to
20 MN.
For this example, Fig. 2.24 shows the foundation displacement as function of the
impact location along the hull of the vessel. The outlined calculation procedure shows
that for a central midship impact, the crushing of the ship structure together with
possible local crushing of the foundation structure will have to absorb 38% of the
available kinetic energy for damage and the remaining part of the energy will be
spent in moving of the structure. The maximum sliding distance is estimated to
be dmax ¼ 1.16 m for a central collision amidship.
It is seen that provided a limited transverse motion of the foundation is acceptable,
the allowable collision loads can be increased significantly above the sliding force for
the foundation. Fig. 2.24 also shows that it is important to take into account the actual
collision impact location.

2.5 Ship collision with ice

The Arctic is estimated to hold about 20% of the world’s remaining recoverable
hydrocarbon reserves. Further exploration and transportation may take place off
the coasts of Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. In addition to hydrocarbons,
there are also the possibility of shipping large quantities of minerals from various loca-
tions in the Arctic to ports in Europe and Asia. The Arctic also sees a growing tourist
inflow with the operation of many cruise ships close to the polar circles and numerous
ongoing scientific expeditions.
With the greater trade into the Arctic, there is an increasing demand for larger ice-
class vessels, particularly oil tankers and liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers. The
global ice-classed fleet has increased significantly in the last 15 years. The harsh envi-
ronment encountered in cold climates affects the ship safety and operation and
requires a focused review and assessment of the ship capability and structural integ-
rity. One important aspect is the strength of the hull structure of ships navigating in ice.
The aim of this section is to use the analytical theory described in Section 2.4 to ana-
lyse ship collision with ice.
124 Probability and Mechanics of Ship Collision and Grounding

2.5.1 Analytical formulation

Fig. 2.25 illustrates a ship collision with level ice or ice channel edge. It is assumed
that the level ice is infinite, and therefore, its mass is also infinitively large. Thus, the
formulations in Section 2.4 apply to this purpose and can be used directly for collision
analysis.
Ice-classed ships are strengthened in the ice belt of the hull structure to resist the ice
loads. For the present analysis, it is assumed that the ship hull is rigid and that the
collision energy will be absorbed by crushing the ice. The compressive strength of
ice is defined as σ c for ice with thickness of hc. The average contact pressure between
the ship hull and ice can be determined from pξ ¼ σ cAκ (IACS, 2016) where A is the
contact area normalized to 1.0 m2, which can be determined from A ¼ hcbc where
bc ¼ ξ(tanθ1 + tan θ2) is the contact length, and κ is the pressure–area coefficient.
Therefore, the contact force Fξ in the ξ-direction (normal to the hull) can be deter-
mined from Fξ ¼ pξA ¼ σ cAκ+1. Then, the collision energy absorbed by crushing can
be further expressed as

ð
ξmax ð
ξmax ð
ξmax

Eξ ¼ Fξ dξ ¼ σcA κ+1
dξ ¼ σ c ðhc bc Þκ + 1 dξ
0 0 0
σ c ðhc ð tan θ1 + tan θ2 ÞÞκ + 1 κ + 2
¼ ξmax
κ+2

Thus, the maximum crushing distance to ice in the ξ-direction is determined from
!
ðκ + 2ÞEξ 1
ξmax ¼ κ+1
κ+2 (2.58)
σ c ðhc ð tan θ1 + tan θ2 ÞÞ

The crushing force Fξ is determined from

Fξ ¼ σ c Aκ + 1 ¼ σ c ðhc ξmax ð tan θ1 + tan θ2 ÞÞκ + 1

1 κ+1
¼ σ κc + 2 ððκ + 2Þhc Eξ ð tan θ1 + tan θ2 ÞÞκ + 2 (2.59)

Fig. 2.25 Illustration of a ship collision with level ice.

External dynamics of ship collisions and grounding 125

Fig. 2.26 An example of an LNG carrier collision with infinite size of level ice.

The crushing force per contact length is determined from

Fξ
Fline ¼ (2.60)
bc

2.5.2 Calculation example

It is assumed that an LNG carrier of length 275 m, breadth 44 m, and draught 12 m
collides with an edge of level ice of infinite size with forward speed 2.5 m/s
(5 knots is a typical sailing speed in ice). The coordinate of the collision location is
(xc ¼ 84.14 m, yc ¼ 20.09 m), and angle α ¼ 12 degrees, which is at the shoulder of
the ship bow as illustrated in Fig. 2.26. The displacement of the ship is 111,600 tons,
and the added mass coefficients are taken as 0.05 for surge motion, 0.50 for sway
motion, and 0.21 for yaw motion.
The thickness of the level ice is assumed to be 1.0 m with compressive strength of
5.6 MPa. The ice wedge angle is assumed to be θ1 ¼ θ2 ¼ 70 degrees, the pressure–area
coefficient κ is taken as 0.50, and the effective friction coefficient between the ship
hull and the ice is taken as 0.10.
The results of the calculated collision energy loss are Eξ ¼ 8.86 MJ and
Eη ¼ 8.51 MJ. The total energy loss (17.37 MJ) is only about 4.7% of the initial kinetic
energy (366.19 MJ), and the ship slides after the collision.
The crushing distance to the ice in the ξ-direction is calculated as 1.01 m, and the
crushing force is Fξ ¼ 13.18 MN. The contact length between the ship hull and the ice
is calculated as bc ¼ 5.54 m, the crushing force per contact length is 2.38 MN/m, and
the average contact pressure is 2.38 MPa.
Table 2.19 presents the results for the LNG carrier when it collides with the ice at
various speeds. The results show that both the crushing distances to the ice and the
crushing contact forces increase with the collision speed. However, both the contact
force per contact length (line force) and contact pressure decrease when the collision
speeds increase (see Fig. 2.27). This is because the larger contact area is, the smaller
the contact pressure will be.
126 Probability and Mechanics of Ship Collision and Grounding

Table 2.19 LNG carrier collision with level ice at various collision speeds.

Contact
Collision Penetration Contact Force Line force pressure
speed (m/s) ξmax (m) length (m) (MN) (kN/m) (MPa)

1.0 0.297 1.633 7.16 4382 4.38

1.5 0.510 2.804 9.38 3344 3.34
2.0 0.749 4.115 11.36 2761 2.76
2.5 1.008 5.541 13.18 2379 2.38
3.0 1.286 7.066 14.89 2107 2.11
3.5 1.579 8.678 16.50 1901 1.90
4.0 1.887 10.370 18.03 1739 1.74

Fig. 2.27 Collision force and line contact force of an LNG carrier collision to level ice (1.0 m
thick) at different speeds.

2.6 External mechanics of ship grounding events

When ships ground on narrow sharp rocks, the initial kinetic energy is mainly spent by
tearing of the bottom plating, and when the ships ground on larger surfaces, the energy
will be absorbed by friction and lifting of the vessel.
In the present section, the external mechanics of grounding on relatively plane
slopes are first analysed with emphasis on the evaluation of the overall forces on
the ship hull girder. The presentation falls into three parts.
Firstly, a mathematical analysis model will be presented for estimation of the con-
tact pressure between the grounded ship and the sea bottom. These ground contact
forces can then be compared with the forces that will crush the forward bottom of