Experimental Methodologies to Investigate Transverse Stability of Ships on Regular Waves

The hydrodynamic safety of ships represents a major requirement from the operational point of view. Statistics on marine accident prove that the capsizing of ships due to critical environmental conditions represents a fundamental and, still, unsolved problem in marine engineering. The severe criteria on transverse stability given by the Classification Societies didn’t prove their effectiveness in evaluating the capsizing risk. Taking into account the above mentioned aspects, the authors are investigating different experimental methodologies developed in towing tanks in order to evaluate the transverse stability of ships on waves. The application is based on the results of the towing tank tests carried out for a 2700 dwt multipurpose cargo ship model. The experimental methodologies are used to provide a better understanding of physical mechanisms which lead to transverse stability for different heeling angles and to validate theoretical approaches in this respect.