TRUE MEAN DRAFT

The True Mean Draft is the draft at the L.C.F.

When a ship is on Even Keel,
the Draft Forward = Draft Amidships = Draft Aft
In this case there is no problem whether LCF is
amidships or at a different location. The “True Mean
Draft” is the same as the “Arithmetical Mean Draft”
of fore & aft drafts when a vessel is on even keel.
See figure 1. below.

W L
F X

)( K
Fig - 1

The T.M.D. represents the actual average draft of the

ship and is the correct indicative of the actual
displacement of the ship i.e. the draft the ship would
have if she was somehow brought to even keel.
 Now let a weight be shifted aft within the ship so that
she trims about the LCF, “F” as shown in figure 2.

F G t
A B
H
W X
K
B’
Z )(
C

Let us say that after she trims she is at a new waterline A B

i.e. draft fwd = BX at FP & draft aft = AC at AP.
Now trim, t = AC – BX = AC - B’C
Now in the triangles ABB’ , AFW , BFL are all similar
triangles
So AB’ = AW = LB
BB’ WF LF
But AB’/BB’ = t/L, AW/WF = ta / la , LB/LF = tf / lf
Thus t/L = ta / la = tf / lf
where la = dist of LCF from AP, lf = dist of LCF from FP
transposing ta = t x la similarly tf = t x lf
L L
2nd Method
We can also put it in another way;
The arithmetical mean of the fwd draft (BX) & aft drafts (AC) is KH,
however this is not the correct mean when the ship is trimmed & LCF is
not amidships.
The correct mean is that at the LCF i.e. FZ.
This is obtained by applying a correction to the arithmetical mean
obtained amidships if LCF is not amidships.
The correction is additive if LCF is aft of amidships & vessel is
trimmed by aft.
The correction is subtractive if LCF is aft of amidships & vessel is
trimmed by fwd.
The correction is subtractive if LCF is fwd of amidships & vessel is
trimmed by aft.
The correction is additive if LCF is fwd of amidships & vessel is
trimmed by fwd.
True mean draft = Draft amidships +/- correction
In this case ZF = KG = KH + GH
The actual correction itself can again be found by using the above
formula, but in this case the correction is to be added to the mean of the
drafts forward and aft. Similarly, by substituting forward for aft and aft
for forward in this figure, it can be seen that the correction is again to be
subtracted from the mean of the drafts forward and aft when the ship is
trimmed by the head and the centre of flotation is aft of amidships.
A general rule may now be derived for the application of the correction
to the draft amidships in order to find the true mean draft
RULE :
When the centre of flotation is in the same direction from amidships as
the maximum draft, the correction is to be added to the mean of the
drafts, but when the centre of flotation is in the opposite direction from
amidships to the maximum draft, the correction is to be subtracted.
Example 1
A ship's minimum permissible freeboard is at a true mean draft of
8.5 m.
The ship's length is 120 m centre of flotation being 3 m. aft of
amidships.
TPC = 50 tonnes.
The present drafts are 7.36 m. F and 9.00 m. A
Find how much more cargo can be loaded.
Draft forward = 7.36 m
Draft aft = 9.00 m
Trim = 1.64 m by the stern
Correction = t x FG = 1.64 x 3
L 120
Draft forward = 7.36 m
Draft aft = 9.00 m
Sum = 16.36 m
Draft amidships = 8.18 m
Correction = +0.04 m
True mean draft = 8.22 m
Loaded mean draft = 8.50 m
Increase in draft = 0.28 m or 28 cms.
Cargo to load = Increase of draft x TPC
= 28 x 50

Cargo to load = 1400 tonnes Ans.