MaE305 – Principles of Naval Architecture 1

Dimensional Specifications of ships

A ship has both visible and invisible but structural parts. Common visible parts of a ship are; rudder,
anchor, bow, keel, accommodation, propeller, mast, bridge, hatch coves and bow thrusters.

On the other hand, invisible but structural parts of ship consist of; bulkheads, frames, cargo holds,
hopper tank, double bottom, girders, cofferdams, side shell etc.

(Understanding ship construction is hard and uneasy with common terms such as front, left,
right and back; so, we will look into some of the common nautical terms used on ship.)

For a person facing the forward part of the ship of a moving ship; the side to his left hand is called port
while on his right is called starboard.

Similarly; the side to his front is forward or bow and that to his back is called astern or aft.

Graphical representation of physical aspects of a typical vessel

Bow:

The front most part of a vessel that cuts through water as it proceeds is known as the Bow. Bow of a
vessel is designed to have minimum possible drag (or resistance) to reduce overall resistance to
motion and to maximize efficiency.

Although different types of bows are suggested and tested in history, only the Bulbous bow, Inverted
bow and Axe bow has the ideal properties.

A bulbous bow has an advantage of increased fuel efficiency of a ship by 10 to 15 percent.

An inverted bow improves its water drag and also, restricts its reserve buoyancy and speed in bad
weather.

An Axe bow type have a vertically stem line hull structure; along with a deep Axe like structure in the
foremost part of the ship. This particular design helps improve the speed of ship for same power.

Bow thrusters:

A bow thruster is similar to a propeller and fitted on both side of ships bow. These can help maneuver
a vessel in congested waters under very slow speeds. (In canals or near ports)

For most designs you will only find a tunnel passing through ships bow with an impeller in
place. It is for this distinct look; bow thrusters are also referred to as tunnel thrusters. The
impeller can rotate in both direction; clockwise and anticlockwise generating bidirectional
thrust capabilities.

Having bow thrusters greatly affects the overall running cost of a ship by reducing part of port
cost for tug (A small boat used by port authorities to help safely dock a ship) assistance. For
ships having bow thrusters, it is required to have proper markings on both sides above
waterline. These thrusters are mostly powered electrically using a prime mover attached to
the impeller shaft using a bevel gear assembly. For some ships they are also powered
hydraulically where electrical option is not possible or is unfeasible.
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Accommodation:

Accommodation is basically the living space of a ship. In includes fresh water system, refrigeration
system (domestic), garbage disposal system, sewage treatment plant and air conditioning for
accommodation block.

Under maritime laws of flag state; it is required to have accommodation of all vessels including;
passenger ship, cargo ship, salvage ship, tug and dredger above the summer load line situated aft or
amidships of the ship structure.

Deck:

A deck is a floor or covering to the ship’s hull structure.

There are different decks situated at different sections of a vessel. For example, upper and lower deck
or deck 1, deck 2 and deck 3 in a sequential downward way.

Floors that do not extend from aft to forward are called levels.

What it means is that; the topmost deck exposed to weather is called main deck or weather
deck. The levels and floors below weather deck is called deck 1, while one below deck 1 is called
deck 2 and so on.

Ship’s deck can be divided into six main types depending on its position.

Namely; main deck, poop deck, upper deck, lower deck, weather deck and Foredeck.

• Main deck: deck on the ship which run through its entire length is called main deck. For most
vessels this is also the top most deck. Thus, it is also called the upper deck.
• Lower deck: the deck situated below the upper deck is called the lower deck.
• Weather deck: any part of the vessel that is exposed to open weather is called weather deck.
• Poop deck: the deck located in the aft side of a vessel is called a poop deck.
• Foredeck: the part of deck situated in between accommodation and forecastle is called the
foredeck.

Ship’s Hull:

Everything that is stored and situated within the main ship structure is enclosed by the ship’s hull.

It includes the key parts of the ship such as bow, deck, the bottom keel and the both sides of
the ship.

They are made up of series of plates jointed together called stakes, along with other structural
members such as plating and stiffeners.

Ship plating consists of deck plating as well as bottom, bulkhead and side plating. Stiffeners include
structural parts such as bulkhead stiffeners, girders, beams and frames. (Both longitudinal and
transverse)
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Keel:

Keel is a thick plate that runs longitudinal across the ship from bow to stern; passing through the
centerline of ships bottom structure and is the lowest point of a vessel.

It is responsible for providing strength to the ships structure; spreading stress and load equally along
its longitudinal sides.

Due to its this property to hold and support ship structure it is often termed as the backbone
of the ship. In simple terms it provides stability to a ship and increase its effective speed. The
introduction of keel in shipping reduce much of the work regarding stabilizing ship structure.
It was first known to be used by Vikings to reduce lateral movement of their boats at the time.

There are three main types of keels used in marine industry; flat keel, duct keel and bar keel.

A flat keel is used in all major ships in operation; bar keels are used when the ship has to work in
shallow water while duct keels are preferred for offshore vessels and double hull tankers.
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Freeboard:

Freeboard is simply the part of ship’s hull above the waterline. The distance between the point of
waterline and the upper deck is known as the freeboard.

The freeboard of a ship is not fixed but rather depends on the amount of cargo it carries. It is
required at all times to maintain a minimum freeboard at all times to avoid ship from sinking.
Thus, to ensure safety of ships at sea; load line marking is used to ensure maximum possible
draft for safe voyage.

The distance between the upper deck and the load line accounts for the minimum freeboard of a ship.
Under international convention on load line (ICLL 1966); it is required by law to maintain a minimum
freeboard at all times.

This puts a cap on the amount of cargo a ship can load. By law it is required by ships to load
only up to the load line marking for the designated water type. Thus, it is a must for ships to
have proper load line marking amidships on either side of the ship’s hull.

Forecastle:

Foremost part of a ship is named as the Forecastle. It is usually not more than 7% of the total deck
length and it accounts for the front part of the ship’s upper deck. It can be easily identified on a ship
structure by a sudden rise in the fore deck near the ships bow.

It is also the part most used for anchoring operation and checking or maintaining navigation lights on
foremast.

In earlier days forecastle of a ship was used for a specific purpose of taking defensive positions
by the soldier in the military vessel. These days it is used most for holding and securing major
ships parts.

It houses the anchoring tools and ground tackles with parts including but not limited to; windlass,
haws pipe, anchor chain, chain block, open rail, deck flange, gear box, hydraulic motor, anchor, bollard
and foremast.
 MaE305 – Principles of Naval Architecture 6

Ship Dimensions

After Perpendicular (AP):

A perpendicular drawn to the waterline at the point where the aft side of the rudder post meets the
summer load line. Where no rudder post is fitted it is taken as the center line of the rudder stock.

Forward Perpendicular (FP):

A perpendicular drawn to the waterline at the point where the foreside of the stem meets the summer
load line.

Length Between Perpendicular (LBP/LPP):

The length between the forward and the aft perpendiculars measured along the summer load line.

Amidships:

A point midway between the after and forward perpendiculars.

Length Overall (LOA):

Length of the vessel taken over all extremities.

Base line:

A horizontal line drawn at the top of the keel plate. All vertical moulded dimensions are measured
relative to this line.

Moulded beam:

Measured at the midship section is the maximum moulded breadth of the ship.
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Moulded Draft/Draught:

The distance from the bottom of the keel to the waterline. The load draft is the maximum draft to
which a vessel may be loaded

Moulded Depth:

Measured from the base line to the heel of the upper deck beam at the ship’s side amidships.

Sheer:

Curvature of decks in the longitudinal direction. Measured as the height of deck at side at any point
above the height of deck at side amidships.

Camber (Round of Beam):

Curvature of decks in the transverse direction. Measured as the height of deck above the height of
deck at side.

Rise of floor (Deadrise):

The rise of the bottom shell plating line above the base line. This rise is measured at the line of
moulded beam.

Half sliding of keel:

The horizontal flat portion of the bottom shell measured to port or starboard of the ship’s longitudinal
center line. This is useful dimension to know when dry-docking.

Tumble home:

The inward curvature of the side shell above the summer load line.

Flare:

The outward curvature of the side shell above the waterline. It promotes dryness and is therefore
associated with the fore end of ship.
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Tonne and Tonnage measurements

Tonnage and tonnes must not be confused with. Tonnage is the measurement of capacity of a ship
where tonnes are used to measure weight.

Tonnage measurements are regulated by the International Maritime Organization.

Displacement (Δ):

The sum of the ship’s actual weight (lightweight) and its contents (deadweight) is the ship’s
displacement. This is measured in tonnes, where 1 tonne = 1000kg.

Note: “Ton” is the imperial or non-metric version, “Tonne” is the metric equivalent (1,000 kg exactly).

Displacement measures the amount of water displaced by the ship and is expressed in tonnes and
thus, the weight of water displaced is equal to the weight of the ship.

Lightweight (lwt):

Weight of the ship as built (hull, machinery) including boiler water, lubricating oil and the cooling
water system is referred to as the lightweight.

Lightweight like displacement is expressed in units of tonnes. It assumes importance in a

Deadweight (dwt):

The weight of the cargo which a ship carries plus weights of fuel, stores, water ballast, fresh water,
crew and passengers and baggage.

Basically, it is the difference between the loaded ship displacement and the lightweight.

• Deadweight is the weight of the cargo which a ship carries plus weights of fuel, stores, water
ballast, fresh water, crew and passengers and baggage.

• It is the difference between the loaded ship displacement and the lightweight.

Gross Tonnage:

The total internal enclosed volume of a vessel, including all under deck tonnage and other enclosed
spaces is referred to as Gross Tonnage.

Gross tonnage is calculated from the formula GT = K1V, where V is the volume of a ship’s
enclosed spaces in cubic meters and K1 is a constant calculated by K1 = 0.2 + 0.02 log10 V. The
measurement is used in assessing harbor dues and canal transit dues for merchant ships.

Net Tonnage:

Net tonnage is derived from Gross Tonnage and it represents the space available for cargo.

If you know GT, you can know how big the ship is. If you know NT, you will know how many cargoes the
ship can carry.
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Side markings of ships

Load line marking

These side marks are called the load lines and they show the maximum load a ship can carry under
different conditions.

Concept of Load lines was initiated by a British member of parliament named Samuel Plimsoll.
In 1876, he sponsored a bill that made it mandatory to have marks on both sides of a ship.
When a ship is overloaded, the marks disappear underwater.

This was the original “Plimsoll Line” and it was a circle with a horizontal line through it. Later
on, additional marks were added.

The letters on either side of the circle stand for the ship’s registration authority. For example; A-B
means American Bureau of Shipping and L-R means Lloyd’s Registry of Shipping and so on.

The marks and letters to the right of the circle indicate maximum loads under different climatic
conditions. Salt water is denser than fresh, cold water denser than warm. Since water density affects
ship buoyancy, different conditions will determine different load lines.

W marks the maximum load in winter temperate seawater, S in summer temperate seawater, T in
tropical seawater, F in fresh water, and TF in tropical fresh water (Ex: Amazon River)
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Other markings

Above symbol located near FP indicates the presence of the bulb which, under certain conditions, may
be entirely underwater. Tugs need to be aware of the protuberance to avoid running it over as they
maneuver around the ship, possibly damaging both the bulb and the tug.

Towards the left of this symbol is a white circle with an X inside signals the presence of a bow thruster.

Towards the right of the bulbous bow symbol lies the numbers arranged in a vertical line—called draft
marks—measure the distance between the bottom of the hull (the keel) and the waterline. If the water
comes up to the 10-meter line, for example, that means 10 meters of the ship is underwater. Where
the water hits the draft lines tells sailors if the ship is overloaded, and—when compared to the reading
on the opposite side of the boat—if it’s listing to one side.

Location of the Bow thruster is indicated between the bulbous bow symbol and bow thruster symbol.
It’s important for a tugboat operator to know the location of the bow thruster, as it creates turbulence
that the tug would rather avoid

(Ex: BT|FP indicates that the bow thruster is located between Ballast Tank (BT) and the Forepeak (FP).