Estimation of hydrostatic properties of small fishing vessels for maritime accident analysis

Abstract

Maritime accidents of small fishing vessels often occur in harbor or in coastal sea. Sometimes it is necessary to perform mathematical simulations of small fishing vessels in order to investigate the causes of accidents. Hydrostatic properties of fishing vessels such as fore drafts, aft drafts and metacentric heights (GM) are required for the accurate simulations. But the information of small fishing vessels are usually insufficient on the actual analysis process. So estimation methods for hydrostatic characteristics of small fishing vessels are proposed in this study. In Korea, most of small fishing vessels have hard-chines and centerline skegs, they have similar hull forms. Bonjean curves of some vessels arenormalized with vessel breadths and depths, and the representative hull form is obtained. If the total weight and center of gravity of the vessel is given, drafts and GM can be approximately calculated by using the representative hull form. Proposed estimation methods are verified by comparing the calculation results with actual vessel design data, it is concluded that the present methods provide reasonable estimated values.