 GEOGRAPHICAL FACTORS

AFFECTING SHIPPING
Geographical factors
affecting shipping
1.Climate
2.Tides
3.Wind
4.Currents
1.CLIMATE

 Climate is the statistics of weather over long period of time.

 Climate differ from weather.
 Weather only describes the short-term conditions of variables
(temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure) in a given
region.
 the climate of a location is affected by its latitude and altitude
as well as nearby water bodies and their currents.
 Climate in a narrow sense is usually defined as the average
weather.
Impact of climate on ships
 While visiting any port, ships need to plan various activities like procuring stores, fuel, provisions,
crew welfare etc.
 For eg..-when visiting a place of cold climate, ship will need extra fuel to heat ship, may need salt
for preventing icing, extra warm clothes for crew etc.
 Sometimes ship need to change hydraulic oil grade to counter extreme cold.
 Normally ships are designed keeping climate in mind, hence impact is low.
2.Tides-short time sea level
fluctuation
 Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels
caused by the combined effects of the
gravitational forces exerted by the moon
and the sun and the rotation of earth.
Tides
2.Tides#short-term sea-level fluctuation.

 Tide tables can be used to find the predicted times and amplitude of tides at any given area.
 The predictions are influenced by many factors like-
 the alignment of sun and moon,
 the shape of coastline
 near shore depth of water.
 wind and atmospheric pressure.(Sea levels are also subjected to forces such as wind and
atmospheric pressure).
Tide changes proceed via following stages-

 Flood tide-Sea level rises over several hours covering intertidal zone.
 the water rises to its highest level, reaching high tide.
 Ebb tide-sea level falls over several hours, revealing the intertidal zone.
 the water stops falling, reaching low tide.
 Diurnal tide-one tidal cycle per day.
 Semi-Diurnal tide-two high waters and two low waters each day.
Tides

 Tidal Streams-oscillating currents produced by the tides.

 Slack water or slack tide-The moment that the tidal currents ceases.
 The tide then reverses direction and is said to be turning.
 Slack water usually occurs near high water.
Tides
Impact of tides on ships

 Tides have considerable impact on ships as height of tide decides

available depth of water with respect to draft.
 Most of the ports are affected as ships have become much larger
than the past.
 Ports have made their berths deeper but passage to the berth may not
be deep enough making ships to wait for high tide.
 3.Wind

 On the surface of earth, wind consists of bulk movement of air.

 In meteorology, winds can be referred to according to their strength and the direction from which wind is
blowing.
1. Gusts- short bursts of high-speed wind are termed gusts.
2. Squalls- Strong winds of intermediate duration (around one minute).
3. Storm/hurricane/breeze/gale-long duration winds have various names associated with their average
strength.
Impact of winds on ships

 Most of the vessels are power driven ship, impact is not that severe.
 Impact of wind is according to the windage area of the ship.
 Accommodation block stands out above deck and create a lot of wind resistance.
 Container ship, Ro-Ro ship, car carriers have very high freeboard area hence more
windage area.
 Ships needs to make course correction when facing strong wind at sea.
 Strong wind also affects wave height creating additional resistance for the
movement of the ship.
 Overall strong winds affects the speed of the ship badly.
4.Currents

 Ocean currents are driven by range of sources like wind ,tide, change in water
density and rotation of earth.
 Ocean currents falls into two main categories.

 Surface Currents
 Near the shore, surface currents are driven by wind and tides which draws water
back and forth as the water level falls and rises.
 In the open ocean, wind is the major force behind the surface currents.
 As the wind blows over the ocean, it drags the top layers of water along with it.
 CURRENTS

 Deep Ocean Currents.

 Deep ocean currents are driven primarily due to changes in density of sea water.
 As the water moves towards north pole, it gets colder. It also has a higher concentration of salt because the ice
crystals that form trap water while leaving salt behind. This cold and salty water is more dense, so it sinks, and
warmer surface water takes its place setting up a vertical current thermohaline circulation.
 Thermohaline circulation of deep water and wind driven surface currents combine to form a winding loop
called the global conveyor belt.
 The global conveyor belt is the longest current in the world.
Surface currents controls the motion of 10% of the oceans water while deep ocean currents mobilize the other
90%.
Impact of currents on shipping

 Strong currents can increase speed saving lot of fuel or if it is against the
direction can reduce the speed.
 Normally passage planning considers taking advantage of currents.
Areas of bad weather

 Some area of the world always have bad weather due to various factors.
 Some of them are
1. Bay of Biscay, North Sea (Europe).
2. Gulf of Alaska (North America)
3. Drake Passage, cape horn (South America).
4. Cape of good hope (Africa).
5. Bass strait (Australia).
Impact on ships

 These areas can slow down ships quite badly.

Density

 Ships are impacted severely due to effect of change of density.

 Change in density can increase draft.
 Ships needs to make careful cargo calculations to avoid “over maximum draft”.
 Load line zones
 Impact is same as density change but deals with legal requirements.
 S(Summer)-It is basic freeboard line at the same level as Plimsoll line. Other load lines are marked based
on this Summer freeboard lines.
 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 during winter season.
 F(Fresh Water)-It is the summer fresh water load line. The distance between S & F is the fresh water
allowance.
 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.
 FWA=Displacement in salt water/(4XTPC).
Loadline zones

 Tropical climate zone-Much of the equatorial belt within the tropical climate zone
experiences hot and dry season.
 Temperature remains relatively constant (hot) throughout the year.