Shiphandling Turning Circle

Maneuverability - is defined as the inherent ability of a vessel to change its
course/path.
• As a ship has to endure long voyages through different weather conditions, it is
important that the performance of a vessel during the day-to-day instances of its
voyage are not compromised on:
- Turning about an obstruction such as landmass or any other marine vehicle

- Circling about a desired point of interest
- Surging, stopping and accelerating
- For maintaining/varying its course or direction
- To maintain a desired path/trajectory
- To promptly veer about an object (ship, iceberg, landmass, reef etc.) without
costing much in time
What are Manoeuvring Trials?
• Sea trials help in acquiring the entire data output of the vessel eliminating the scaling
complexities of a model. Moreover, in case flaws are detected during trials, they can
be rectified right away without any uncertainty, prior to the delivery of the ship.
• It is essential to ensure that the conditions are congenial for a trial and are in
accordance with the required standards.
Deep and unrestricted waters: As per IMO criteria, the depth of the water should be
more than 4 times the draft at midship. Moreover, it should be done in a place isolated
from other ship traffic and far from any landmass.
Calm Sea Conditions: The prevalent weather in that region must be suitable for the trial
to be conducted. The Sea State value must be strictly less than 4 and the wind speed
should be within Beaufort Scale 5. It goes without saying that all trials should be
cancelled in case of harsh weather conditions such as storm, cyclones, rainfall, snowfall
etc.
Away from Tidal Influence: All trials should be conducted in areas where there is
lesser influence of tides, currents, swells and even high waves.
Proper draft, even keel and no trim in the proposed loading conditions.
Steady Approach: Before taking a trial, the vessel must be allowed to run on a steady
course for some time. This is done in order to monitor the propulsion and machinery
systems of the ship and to stabilise the driving machinery.
Some of the common manoeuvring sea trials a ship is put through are:
• Turning Circle Manoeuvre (for medium/large size vessels, mainly)
• Zig-zag Test
• Stopping Test (including Crash Stop) which of course has nothing to do with course-
keeping/manoeuvrability but is a necessary speed trial carried out in tandem to with
all the previous ones to characterise its stopping ability.
Course keeping ability “directional stability”
• Is the ability of the steered ship to maintain its original course direction.
• Initial turning ”course changing ability” : The ability of ship to change its heading
as response to a control action. A ship with good initial turning ability will quickly get
into turning or change its original course after the control action.
• Yaw checking ability : the ability of the steered ship to respond to the counter rudder
action applied in a certain state of turning. •
• Turning ability : the ability of ship to turn under the hard over rudder action.
• Stopping ability: the ability of ship to stop with engine stopped (inertia stop) or
engine full astern (crash stop) after a steady approach at full speed.
Required and Recommended Maneuvers Sea trials are the final confirmation of a
vessel’s maneuvering qualities and its maneuverability prior to its delivery.
The required maneuvers are:
Turning test : For initial turning and steady turning ability .
zig-zag test : For yaw checking ability and course-keeping ability .
Stopping test (Crash Stop) : For emergency stopping ability .

TURNING CIRCLE MANOEUVRE
The circle is the path of the ship’s pivot point as it executes a 360° turn.
• Advance – Defined by the forward motion of the ship, from the moment that the
vessel commences the turn. It is the distance travelled by the vessel in the
direction of the original course from commencing the turn to completing the turn.
It is calibrated between the course heading when commencing the turn, to when
the vessels head has passed through 90°.
• Transfer – distance which the vessel will move perpendicular to the fore and aft
line from the commencement of the turn. The total transfer experienced during a
turn will be reflected when the ship’s head has moved through a course heading
of 180°. The amount of transfer can be calibrated against the ship’s change of
heading and is usually noted at 90° and 180°.
• Tactical diameter – Is defined by the greatest diameter scribed by the vessel

from commencing the turn to completing the turn.
• Final diameter – Is defined as the internal diameter of the turning circle where no
allowance has been made for the decreasing curvature as experienced with the
tactical diameter.
• Drift angle : it is the angle between the axis of a ship when turning and the
tangent to the path on which it is turning.
TURNING CIRCLE MANOEUVRE
• In shallow water, the rate of turn is likely to be decreased,
so the vessel will have a larger turning circle.
• When the vessel is trimmed by the stern, the tactical

diameter of turn is increased
• When the vessel is trimmed by the head, the tactical

diameter of turn is decreased
• The vessel with a list will take longer to execute the turn,
and when turned into the list, will develop a larger circle
• The vessel with a right-hand turn propeller, if making a

turn to port, will end up with a smaller diameter than
starboard due to the effect of transverse thrust
Turning Circle
Transfer
Drift
Angle
Advance
Final Diameter
Tactical Diameter
Zigzag Manoeuver (Z-Manoeuver)
The zig-zag manoeuver, sometimes called a Kempf manoeuver, after G.Kempf, is
carried out to study more closely the initial response of a ship to rudder movements
A typical manoeuver would be as follows:

1. accelerate ship up to full speed ,with the ship’s head to wind Zigzag Manoeuvre (Z-
Manoeuver)
2. the rudder is put over to 20° and held until the ship's heading changes by 20°.
3. The rudder angle is then changed to 20° in the opposite sense and so on.
Stopping Test
The stopping test is performed to evaluate the stopping ability.
A full astern stopping test is conducted to determine:

• the track reach of ship from the time when an astern order is given until the ship is
stopped dead in the water.
• :Track reach the total distance travelled along the ship's path.

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Maneuverability - is defined as the inherent ability of a vessel to change its

- Turning about an obstruction such as landmass or any other marine vehicle

The required maneuvers are:

Turning test : For initial turning and steady turning ability .

zig-zag test : For yaw checking ability and course-keeping ability .

Stopping test (Crash Stop) : For emergency stopping ability .

• Tactical diameter – Is defined by the greatest diameter scribed by the vessel

• When the vessel is trimmed by the stern, the tactical

• When the vessel is trimmed by the head, the tactical

• The vessel with a right-hand turn propeller, if making a

A typical manoeuver would be as follows:

A full astern stopping test is conducted to determine:

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