Feature 1 | CRUISESHIP TECHNOLOGY
3.
If the ship grounds due to excessive
squatting in shallow water, then apart from the large repair bill, there is the time the ship is ‘out of service’. Being ‘out of service’ is indeed very costly. Loss of earnings can be well over £300,000 per DAY. How much per day would it be for a vessel like the Queen Victoria? 4. When a vessel goes aground there is always a possibility of leakage of oil resulting in compensation claims for oil pollution and fees for clean-up operations following the incident. Tese costs may ultimately have to be paid for by the shipowner. 5. Any ships grounding in a busy river are a constant worry for harbour masters. Any vessel blocking the passage of ships in and out of a river causes serious loss of income for the port authority. On 31 July 2008, this actually occurred. Iron King went aground at Port Headland in Western Australia and closed the river traffic for 12 hours. 6. Being able to safely predict ship squat at any speed could mean that a cruiseship like the Queen Victoria could visit more
ports on their Itinerary. Ports previously thought initially to have inadequate depths of water might be shown to be acceptable ports of call. The more ports these vessels can visit, the better offers shipping companies can make to prospective passengers. Better offers could mean greater income and profit. Tese last six paragraphs illustrate very clearly that not knowing about ship squat can prove to be very costly indeed. Summarising, it can be stated that because maximum ship squat can now be predicted, it has removed the ‘grey area’ surrounding the phenomenon. In the past, ship pilots have used ‘trial and error’, ‘rule of thumb’ and years of experience to bring their vessels safely in and out of port: in other words, personal working experience.
Empirical formulae quoted in this study,
plus squat curves modified and refined by the author give firmer guidelines. By maintaining the ship’s trading availability a shipowner’s profits margins are not decreased.
More important still, this presentation can
help prevent loss of life as occurred with the Herald of Free Enterprise grounding, where 193 people lost their lives. In a marine court hearing, ignorance is not acceptable as a legitimate excuse. It would be ironic for the Queen Victoria
to go aground due to ship squat in shallow waters. Bridge officers must understand ship squat for this high prestige vessel, costing £300 million. Greater assistance can be given, via graphical laminated squat displays placed on the bridge. Tey are displayed on the QE2 & the QM2. Why not on the Queen Victoria?
A final thought….. Turning circle diameters, stopping distance and stopping times information is regularly supplied to ships for onboard use. In the interests of safety, I strongly suggest that ship squat data is added to this list. Above all, do not forget that the
quickest method for reducing the danger of grounding due to ship squat for the Queen Victoria and any other vessel is to reduce speed. To return to the proverb -‘Forewarned is forearmed.’ NA
Table 6 34 The Naval Architect February 2009
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