Chapter 16

BILGING AND PERMEABILITY

Introduction
The ship is always prone to accidents and ingress of water. Such
ingress affects stability adversely and we shall study these effects in the
chapter.
Bilging a midship compartments
When a vessel floats in still water it displaces its own weight of water.
Fig.27a shows a box-shaped vessel floating at the waterline WL. The
weight of vessel (W) is considered to act downwards through G, the
centre of gravity. The force of buoyancy is equal to W and acts upwards
through B, the centre of buoyancy.

Fig.27a

Now let an empty compartment amidship be holed below the waterline

to such an extent that the water may flow freely into and out of the
compartment. The vessel holed this way is said to be “bilged.”

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 Fig.27b

The fig.27b shows the vessel in the bilged condition. The buoyancy
provided by bilged compartment is lost. The draft has increased and
now the vessel floats at the waterline W1L1, where it again displaces its
own weight of water. “X “represents the increase in draft due to bilging.
The volume of lost buoyancy (v) is made good by volumes “y” and “z”
Therefore v = y +z
Let “A” be the area of water plane before bilging, and let “a” be the area
of the bilged compartment. Then:
y+z = Ax –ax
Or v = x (A –a)
x=v/A-a
i.e. increase in draft = Volume of lost buoyancy/ Area of intact water
plane
Note. Since the distribution of weight within the vessel has not been
altered, The KG after bilging will be the same as the KG before bilging.

Example 1
A box shaped vessel is 50 metres long and is floating on an even keel
at 4 metres draft. A compartment amidships is 10 metres long and is
empty. Find the increase in draft if this compartment is bilged.
x=v/A–a
Let B = Breadth of vessel
Then x = 10 x B x 4/ 50 x B – 10 x B
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 40B / 40B
Ans. Increase in draft = 1 metre
Permeability
When an empty compartment is bilged, the whole of the buoyancy
provided by the compartment is lost. On the other hand, when a
compartment containing cargo is bilged, the cargo continues to displace
water and only part of the buoyancy provided by the compartment is
lost.
The permeability of a compartment is the percentage of the space
which can be occupied by water when the compartment is bilged. For
example, when a compartment having permeability 25% is bilged, only
¼ of the space can be occupied by the water. The remaining ¾ of the
space is occupied by the cargo. From this it can be seen that the
buoyancy lost is ¼ of what it would have been had the compartment
been empty. The effect of permeability is therefore to reduce the loss of
buoyancy when the compartment is bilged.
The permeability of a compartment can be found from the formula:
Permeability = Broken stowage x 100%/ Stowage factor
The broken stowage to be used in this formula is the broken stowage
per tonne to stow.
When a bilged compartment contains cargo, the formula for finding the
increase in draft, must be amended to allow for the permeability. If “p “
represents the permeability, expressed as a fraction, then the volume of
the lost buoyancy will be “ pv” and the area of intact waterplane will be
“A – pa “ square metres. The formula then reads:
x = pv / A – pa

Example 2.
A box shaped vessel is 64 metres long and is floating on an even keel
at 3 metres draft. The compartment amidship is 12 metres long and
contains cargo having a permeability of 25%. Calculate the increase in
draft if this compartment be bilged.
x =pv/ A – pa
¼ x 12 x B x 3 / 64 x B – ¼ x 12 x B
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 9B / 61B
Ans. Increase in draft = 0.15 metres
Damage Control
Damage from contact
In any collision or contact, the immediate danger is flooding, i.e. ingress
of water into the ship. Water ingress, if sufficiently large, can cause a
ship to capsize or sink in a very short time. Water ingress into any ship
is a multi-pronged attack on the safety of the ship. For now we will
consider only two aspects.
Water enters the ship from a ruptured area, which was intact before the
rupture and therefore provided buoyancy for the vessel. After the
rupture the vessel looses the buoyancy to the same extent as the
volume of the compartment ruptured.
Seawater weighs approximately 1025kg / m3. More the water ingress
into the ship, more the weight added on board. This extra weight
therefore causes the ship to sink further into the sea, again a reduction
in the safety factor.
The water ingress would depend upon rate of ingress. This in turn
depends on the location of rupture, physical size (area) of the rupture
and the depth of the rupture below the sea surface.
Larger the area larger the ingress, deeper the rupture higher the rate of
ingress. Hence large quantities would enter the ship in relatively shorter
time if the damage were well below the water line. The amount of water
ingress can be calculated but it is of little importance at the time of the
accident. However we need to know the location of the damage and its
extent, to take corrective measures.
'Minor` contact damage is where a rupture has not taken place and no
water ingress has occurred. The vessel therefore is not in danger of
sinking. In any case the impact has caused the vessels structure to
absorb the energy and would cause some deformation or dents. This
will have to be brought back to its original strength.
The help at hand
Informatively today's ships are pretty complicated to deal with when
major damages takes place. The Classification Societies have now
introduced a “Help" programme. This programme envisages that when
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a ship registered with them is in difficulty, they investigate the ship
stability and ability to sustain the damage. Such classification societies
are on the alert at all times and render advice all rounds the clock.
Collision: The first duty of a master after a collision is to prevent loss of
life or injury. A party should be immediately be sent to prepare the life
boats, and responsible persons should be detailed to assess the extent
of the damage by visual inspection and by sounding all around. It
should be remembered that glancing blows may not cause a heavy
shock to be felt, but are nevertheless often the cause of the most
severe damage. After a collision there is a legal requirement to stand by
the other vessel until it is ascertained that assistance is not required.
The master must give to the other vessel, the name of his own ship, her
port of registry, the name of the port from which he has come, and the
name of the port for which he is bound. If a ship is found to be making
water faster than the pumps can handle it, then speedy first aid is
necessary, or if this is not possible, the ship must be abandoned. A
vessel’s bilge pimp have only a limited capacity for dealing with
leakage, but attention is drawn to the bilge injection in the engine room
which enables the circulating pumps to draw from the bilges in an
emergency. These pumps are capable of dealing with very heavy
leakage and the injection should be used promptly whenever severe
flooding occurs in machinery spaces.
Repairs after Collision: A head on collision usually causes damage
which is confined mainly to the structure forward of the collision
bulkhead, but it should be remembered that the shock may cause
damage (particularly to castings such as pipelines etc.) in positions
remote from the point of collision. A collision bulkhead is strong enough
to withstand the pressure of water imposed on it, but if number one hold
is empty it is advisable to provide additional strengthening by shoring
the bulkhead. If a single shore is used, it should be positioned half way
up from the base of the bulkhead to the waterline, since this is the
centre of pressure of the triangular shape to which a collision bulkhead
approximates. (should it become necessary for any reason to shore up
a hold bulkhead, this should be done at a position one third of the way
from the base of the bulkhead to the waterline, since this is the centre of
pressure of a rectangular shape). A vessel flooded forward of the
collision bulkhead tends to trim well by the head, and this causes
increased pressure on the bulkhead. To minimize this effect, bunkers,
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water and if practicable cargo should be shifted aft to trim the vessel as
far as possible by the stern. The collision bulkhead presents a flat
surface to a vessel’s progress through the water and the vessel’s speed
should be very moderate to prevent the fluctuating stress due to this
cause from becoming excessive.
When a vessel is struck on the beam, the damage is generally more
serious and often takes the form of a Vee shaped breach in the side of
plating. The striking vessel should not go astern immediately without
ascertaining the extent of damage, since if the damage extends below
the waterline a large volume of water may rush in as soon as she backs
clear. If the damage does not extend far below the waterline, the
volume of water entering will be such that the bilge pumps can cope.
The vessel may often be listed or trimmed to lift the damage area clear
of the water. A repair may be made by bolting a steel plate (or plates)
over the damage on the outside, using either hook bolts or a form of
strong back.

Fig.28

If the damage extends far below the waterline the first aim should be to
reduce the inflow of water top a rate at which it can be dealt with by the
pumps. A collision mat may be worked into place on the outside of the
damaged area by rigging bottom lines around the girth of the ship and
hauling on these so that the mat is unrolled over the damage. A collision
mat made for the purpose, is bulky enough and stiff enough so that it is
held up against the damage by water pressure, but is not taken in. If a
canvas mat is improvised (as from a tarpaulin, a large awning or a boat
cover) then a spar should be laced along the lower edge so that it may
be unrolled over the damage without being sucked in. Several layers of
mats may have to be used before the inflow of water is satisfactorily
reduced. Once the main inflow of water has been checked a pad may
be formed and shored up from the inside. A suitable pad may be made
of mattresses, bedding or similar material with a backing of timber. In
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cases where the collision mats stems the inflow of water almost entirely,
a cement box may be constructed in place of the above pad. When a
pad has to be used, it may be backed up by using a large cement box
round the whole of the pad.
Minor Repairs: These may become necessary owing to a collision or to
a variety of other causes. Splits in plating, and started seams such as
might occur due to a glancing collision, may often be filled by driving in
wedges or plugs of softwood. The softwood swells when it becomes
wetted and thus makes a tight joint. They are very useful for checking
an inflow of water prior to constructing a cement box. Where rivets have
been sheared, the holes may be filled with softwood plugs as above but
a more permanent repair may be made by fitting fish bolts in the holes.
Weeping seams of plating may sometimes be cured by caulking or by
injecting a mixture of red lead or putty (or similar compounds) behind
the seams by putty guns. Individual rivets may be drilled out and
replaced by fish bolts, but it should be remembered that fishbolts
although they fill the holes and prevent leakage do not replace the
original strength of the rivet. Patent fishbolts with expanding heads may
be used from the inside. The fishbolts is inserted into the rivet hole, the
head is expanded by turning a lug, on a threaded log so that the conical
head of the rod is withdrawn. A ropeyarn grommet soaked in white lead
is placed over the fish bolt, followed by a washer and a nut. Tightening
on the nut shall make a permanent water tight plug. Ordinary fishbolts
are round headed bolts with tapered points a hole being drilled through
the point for connection to a line. When a fishbolt has to be fitted below
the waterline, it is necessary to rig bottom lines so that a sounding rod
passed out through the rivet may be caught in a bight of the bottom
lines and brought up to the ship’s side. The sounding rod is then
unfastened from its line and a fishbolt made fast in its place. By heaving
away from the sounding rod from inside the fishbolt may be pulled into
the river hole. A rope yarn grommet and a washer are then passed over
the fishbolt and secured in position by a nut as before.

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 Fig.29

Cement Boxes are extremely useful for many types of repair work
provided that they can be so constructed that the working of the ship’s
structure does not cause them to break away. A wooden box, suitably
secured and tommed off from adjacent structure, is constructed round
the damage and then filled with cement or a mixture of sand and
cement (not more than 3 parts sand and 1 part of cement). In most
cases it is desirable to leave the wooden box and shoring in position
after the cement has set. Salt water may be used if necessary for
mixing the cement, and for large boxes iron bars may be imbedded in
the cement to reinforce it. A little soda may be added to the mixture to
accelerate the setting, but too much is detrimental to the cement. If a
trickle of water is leaking through the damage, the dry cement may be
put in the box so that the leak stops. A steadily running leak cannot be
dealt with in this way and must be contained by building a small box
with a pipe for drainage and then fitting a larger box around this box.
The outside box is then filled with cement and when this has set the
drainage pipe may be plugged.
Closing of watertight doors
In many cases it becomes necessary to provide access between
compartments on either side of a watertight bulkhead. Hence doors are
fitted. However for a bulkhead to maintain its watertight-ness, the door
must obviously remain watertight, and the integrity intact.
The number of W/T doors on any vessel is always kept to the minimum,
compatible with the design & proper working of the ship.
Common requirements
Where a doorway is cut in the lower part of the W/T bulkhead, care
must be taken to maintain the strength of the bulkhead. If vertical

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 stiffeners of the bulkhead have been cut then the opening must be
framed and strengthened.
If the stiffener spacing has been increased for the opening, the
scantlings of the stiffeners on either side of the opening must be
increased to give the equivalent strength of that of an un-pierced
bulkhead. W/T door openings must be kept as small as possible, except
in Passenger ships where it is somewhat larger.
The size of W/T doors is limited to a maximum clear width of 1.2m.
Larger widths may be permitted provided it is necessary for the effective
operation of the ship and meets additional requirements. The height of
the sill of doors at the end of enclosed superstructures should be at
least 380 mm above the deck.
W/T openings above the freeboard deck
Watertight doors above the freeboard deck must be of adequate
strength and be able to maintain the watertight integrity of the structure.
The openings have rounded corners.
Testing of doors
Doors are tested by water pressure to a head up to the bulkhead deck
or freeboard deck respectively. This test is done before the ship is put in
service or in some cases, after the door is fitted.
Safety requirements
All Watertight doors must be kept close during navigation.
They may be kept open during navigation to permit passage of
passengers & crew or if required for some work but the door must be
immediately closed when transit or the work is complete.
Some W/T doors may be kept open during navigation only if it is
determined essential (e.g. -operation of the ship’s machinery or to
permit access to passengers). A door thus open should be clearly
indicated in the ship’s stability information and should always be ready
for immediate closure.
General precautions required to maintain watertight integrity of the ship
should consist of:
a) A list of all the equipment,
b) Condition in which they should be maintained,
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 c) Operational procedures.
Specific precautions, which are essential to the survival of the ship,
shall consist of a list of all vital elements (i.e. closure, security of cargo
and sounding of alarms etc).
Damage Control Plans
Damage control plans for passenger ships should fulfil the following
requirements:
a) They should be permanently exhibited,
b) They should show for each deck the boundaries of watertight
compartments,
c) They should show the openings in those compartments, the means of
closing the openings and position of controls required for the same.
d) They should show the arrangements for the correction of any list due to
flooding.
In addition booklets containing the above information should also be
available to the officers of the ship.
Indicators and monitoring
All sliding and hinged doors in watertight bulkheads must have
indicators on the bridge showing whether the door is open or closed.
The indicator system should meet the following requirements:
a) It should be designed on a fail-safe principle
b) It should show by visual alarm if a door is not fully closed or if the
securing arrangements are not in place and fully locked.
c) It should indicate by an audible alarm if a door or closing appliance
opens or if the securing arrangement becomes unsecured.
d) It should have a mode switch such that an audible alarm is sounded if
the ship leaves the harbour with any closing device not in the correct
position.
e) The power supply to the indicator system should be independent of the
operating power supply.
Passenger Ro-Ro ships must have an indicator system on the bridge,
which indicates if shell doors, loading doors and other closing
appliances are not fully closed or not secured.
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 Any leakage, which could lead to the flooding of Ro-Ro or any special
category spaces, should be monitored on the bridge as well as the
Engine Control Room through television surveillance and a water
leakage detection system.
Special category spaces and Ro-Ro spaces should be continuously
patrolled or monitored by effective means such as television
surveillance so that any movement of vehicles in adverse weather
conditions, or unauthorized access by passengers to these spaces can
be detected while the ship is underway.
Drills
All W/T doors in main transverse bulkheads, which are in-use at sea,
should be operated daily.
Drills for the operation of W/T doors should take place weekly. If a
voyage exceeds one week, a complete drill should be held before
leaving port, and subsequent drills should take place at least once a
week during the voyage.

W/T doors and all associated mechanisms, indicators, and valves

should be inspected at sea at least once a week.
Power-operated watertight doors are now a standard safety feature on
many ships but can also be the cause of horrendous and potentially
fatal personal injuries if misused.
'Many power-operated watertight doors can be remotely operated from
a ship's bridge or set in automatic-closure mode, which means there is
always risk of an accident if correct procedures aren't followed,' The
immense crushing power of such doors can lead to horrific injuries.'
The club recommends that power doors be normally left in local-control
mode to avoid the dangers of automatic closure. Controls on both sides
of the door should be held in the open position when passing through
and, if using a door unattended, crewmembers should have both hands
free to operate the controls. Whenever a load needs to be carried
through a door, at least one additional person should be on hand to
operate the controls.'
The North of England has reminded its members that training in the
use of power-operated watertight doors is mandatory under chapter VI
of the International Convention on Standards of Training, Certification
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 and Watch-keeping for Seafarers (STCW 95). This requires that all
persons on a ship receive familiarisation training about watertight doors
before undertaking shipboard duties. 'The training should obviously
form part of the ship's ISM-compliant safety management system,' says
Tony Baker of the club's loss prevention department.

Maintenance of records
All W/T openings, which are required to be kept close during navigation,
should be closed before the ship leaves port. The times of opening and
closing must be recorded in a logbook.
A record of all drills and inspections must be entered in the logbook with
a detailed record of any defects found.
Cross flooding Arrangement
Where the damage stability calculation requires the installation of cross-
flooding arrangements in order to avoid inadmissibly high asymmetrical
flooding, these shall work automatically as far as possible. Non-
automatic controls for cross-flooding fittings are to be capable of being
operated from the bridge or another central location above bulkhead
deck. The position of each closing device has to be indicated on the
bridge and at the central operating location.
The sectional areas of the cross-flooding fittings are to be so
determined that the time for equalization does not exceed 15 minutes.
Particular attention is to be paid to the effects of the cross-flooding
arrangements upon the stability in intermediate stages of flooding.
When determining the bulkhead scantlings of tanks extending up to the
bulkhead deck, connected by cross-flooding arrangements, the
increase in pressure head at the immerged side that may occur at
maximum heeling in the damaged condition must be taken into account.
Loadicator
The loadicator is provided onboard for all types of vessels and provides
ready information at a glance.
The loadicator provides the facility to obtain:
1. Trim and Stability.
2. Draft.

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3. Results for Longitudinal Stress Calculations for Bending Moments and
Shearing Forces for Port and Ocean-Going conditions.
4. Results for Hydrostatic Calculations with tabular results for deadweight,
displacement and constant.
Lodicator id designed for each ship and warns the operator when the
stresses or strains increase beyond permissible loads.
The above information is obtained by feeding in the data of constants,
liquids onboard (FW, HO, DO, Ballast water) and cargo in the
respective compartments either for harbour condition or sea going
condition. The print out can be taken out for the purpose of record
keeping.

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