| Résumé | The sinkings of the European Gateway, the Herald of Free Enterprise and the Estonia have highlighted the potential for tragedy when water floods the car deck of RO-RO ferries. Transport Canada, through the Marine Safety Directorate and the Transportation Development Centre, sponsored model experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the current SOLAS regulations and to determine if they can be safely relaxed when applied to domestic ships operating in sheltered waters. The first model tested was a prismatic hull, with the overall dimensions and stability characteristics of a 160m ferry. The subject of this paper is the results for the second model tested which was a simplified ship shaped hull with a waterline length of approximately 87 metres. The basic hull form was derived from smaller ferries, but was modified to be symmetrical about midships. The program of experiments was carried out over ranges of residual freeboard, vertical centre of gravity and area of freeing ports (fitted with flaps). The estimated maximum significant waveheight that the ship will survive is presented against various stability parameters and freeing port areas. The limits of survivability are evaluated against the current SOLAS requirements, and are also compared with the findings from the Joint North West European R&D Project 'Safety of Passenger/RO-RO Vessels'. These results were developed from ships with fully enclosed car decks, rather than typical North American designs. |
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