Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission

Group of Experts on Safety of Navigation SAFE NAV 6-2015

Document title Draft information on ship’s safe Under Keel Clearance in the Baltic Sea
Code 4-1
Category DEC
Agenda Item 4 - Under Keel Clearance
Submission date 28.09.2015
Submitted by Finland
Reference Outcome of SAFE NAV 5-2014, Paragraphs 4.5-4.7 and Annex 2

Background
HELCOM SAFE NAV 5-2014 considered the draft for a new HELCOM Recommendation on Under Keel
Clearance in the Baltic Sea region and agreed that the document should not at this stage be a formal HELCOM
Recommendation, but more an information publication, comparable to HELCOM Clean Seas Guide series.
The meeting agreed to that the HELCOM UKC document should at this stage concentrate on providing
information only (not regulatory) and focus on information directed for mariners and redrafted the
document (cf. Annex 2 of SAFE NAV 5-2014 Outcome). The meeting agreed to continue work intersessionally
under the lead of Finland, and that a final document should be completed by the group in June 2015 and be
available on the HELCOM website by the end of August 2015. The final approval by HELCOM MARITIME
Working Group would be done by correspondence.
Due to missing illustrations the document was not completed during summer 2015. The attached document
includes the final draft version with illustrations, as well as adjusted references to the illustrations.
Action required
The Meeting is invited to consider the attached version of the draft information on ship’s safe under keel
clearance in the Baltic Sea and if possible endorse it for MARITIME approval.

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[DRAFT] INFORMATION ON SHIP’S SAFE UNDER KEEL CLEARANCE IN THE

1. Introduction

This document is intended to provide basic information on determination of ship’s minimum under keel
clearance (UKC) to provide safe navigation through sea areas with restricted available depth of water
and thus enhancing the safety of navigation and protection of the marine environment.

The purpose of this document is to provide masters, navigating officers and other appropriate bodies
with a framework enabling them to respond effectively to ensure that ship maintains sufficient UKC and
safe draught during its intended voyage.

This document is primarily applicable for non-restricted waters as well as transit routes in connection
with IMO routing measures in the Baltic Sea, but also covers other parts of the Baltic Sea and coastal
waters as appropriate.

Nothing in this document should limit the rights of masters to act accordingly in circumstances allowing
for a reduced UKC in order to ensure the safety of life at sea, safety of the ship, protection of the
environment, or any other legitimate circumstances.

Local requirements
It should be noted that coastal states or port authorities may establish mandatory or recommended
requirements for minimum UKC or maximum draught.

2. General guidance

The following two different conditions should be considered when calculating the UKC for a specific ship:
― Open shallow waters
― Confined shallow channels and waters

The master is responsible for estimating the minimum UKC during the entire voyage from berth to berth,
including those areas where the services of a pilot will be used.

To assist the master with this requirement the Company, as defined in the ISM Code1, could provide the
master with written UKC guidance. The master and the relevant pilot should discuss and agree the voyage
plan including the anticipated UKC.

1
ISM Code, Part A, paragraph 1.1.2: Company means the owner of the ship or any other organization or person such as
the manager, or the bareboat charterer, who has assumed the responsibility for operation of the ship from the owner
and who, on assuming such responsibility, has agreed to take over all duties and responsibility imposed by the Code.
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3. Under keel clearance factors

Under keel clearance should be determined by three types of factors:

 Water level factors in the Baltic Sea. These include the reference of water level, mainly due to
meteorological effects, which can have a positive or negative value.
 Ship related factors. These include ship’s manoeuvring characteristics, as given in the IMO
resolution A. 601(15) on Provision and Display of Manoeuvring Information on Board Ships. The
effect of water density should further be considered.
 Sea bottom related factors. These include allowance for sea bed level uncertainties and allowance
for bottom changes etc. Experiences have shown that these effects could have a value of
approximately up to two metres in some areas.

Approaches to UKC determination commonly include three main elements: the static draught, ship’s
movement factors and a safety margin component including uncertainties (Figure 1).

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4. Calculating under keel clearance in general

This document provides only general information on how to estimate and calculate under keel clearance
(UKC). To be able to determine the ship’s specific UKC would require calculating on data from the specific
ship.

The determination of UKC should be done as part of the detailed voyage plan, as is described in IMO
Resolution A.893(21) “Guidelines for voyage planning”. The determination starts with general overview
of the intended route or track of the voyage on appropriate scale charts in order to find the areas with
restricted water depth.

Detailed UKC calculations should be made to all areas with restricted depth. These calculations should
be made for certain time, according to the voyage plan. Calculations should take into consideration the
characteristics of the area.

Calculations should ensure safe conduct of the ship during transits, bearing in mind ship’s steering ability,
manoeuvring characteristics, speed, and any other operational constraints that may be applicable due to
the ship’s UKC.

At least the following factors should be taken into consideration when estimating sufficient water depth:

 The ship’s draught. If the ship does not have an even-keel draught, the draught at the bow
or stern, whichever is the biggest, should be used. Also possible list, and the effect of ship’s
stability, should be taken into consideration. Note that the draught can change during the
voyage due to e.g. bunker consumption, alterations in ballast condition etc.
 Chart datum
 Water level at the calculated time for passing the area
 Weather at the calculated time for passing the area
 Squat at estimated speed
 Characteristics of the sea bed
 Prevailing current
 Expected waves
 Effect of possible icing on draught of the ship
 Local navigational warnings (e.g. change of water depth)
 Water density
 Ice conditions
 Hull form

Water depth should be estimated as the depth as charted on the navigational chart and corrected
according to a correction value. The correction value should be determined according to the changes to
the Mean Sea Level (areas with no tides). The relevant data should be obtained through common
channels of information to mariners and local warnings, i.e.: any pertinent information found in the Coast
Pilot or Local Notice to Mariners and Navigational and Hydro-meteorological Warnings and any other
information from shore-based official sources (sensors and aids to navigation). These sources of
information are commonly available via internet or AIS.

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Effect of squat

Squat is a steady downward displacement consisting of translation and rotation due to the flow of water
past the moving hull. To be able to determine a ship’s squat requires calculating on actual data from the
specific ship. It should be noted that in the Baltic Sea region there are different methods for calculating
squat in use. See figure 2 for an example on the squat effect according to the calculation method used in
Denmark.

Ship squat depends on ship characteristics and has a different effect in shallow as opposed to deeper
areas and in open sea as opposed to channel configurations. It is recommended that information to be
included in the ship's Manoeuvring booklet should include drawn curves for maximum squat in different
conditions.

The speed of a ship through water is of great importance when evaluating the effects of squat. Squat is
approximately proportional to the square of the ship’s speed through the water, hence halving the
speed reduces the squat effect by a factor of four.

In other words, as an example, in open shallow waters, by reducing the speed of a bulk carrier from 16
knots to 8 knots can reduce the squat effect from approximately 2 metres to 0.5 metres.

When calculating the effect of squat care should be taken as regards the minimum manoeuvrable
speed and the ship’s ability to perform the manoeuvers intended by the pilot or master without the
assistance of tugs.

The ability of a ship to manoeuver at its design speed will decrease when the clearance between a
channel bottom and the ship’s keel is reduced and may become insufficient if it is less than a certain
critical value that maintains sufficient flow under and along the ship.

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Effect of heel during course alterations

The effect of an increased draught caused by course alterations depends on the breadth and draught.
The angle of heel depends on the stability of the ship, speed and rate of turn.

The possible effect on draught is given in the following two examples: If a container carrier with a
breath of 44 metres has a heel of 1°, it could increase draught with approximately 0.4 metres.
Correspondingly, if it has a heel of 3°, it could increase draught with approximately 1.2 metre (Figure 3).

Pilotage

The ship’s draught, controlling depth of the transit route, and the anticipated UKC should be part of the
information exchange with the ship’s pilot. UKC calculations should be presented to the pilot along with
the voyage plan. Such considerations should preferably be documented by available means.
Transits through shallow areas are to be considered in detail with reference to UKC.

The pilot should be consulted for any additional information that may affect the controlling depth of the
transit route.

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