Heel attempt

The heeling test is a common method for determining the position of the center of mass of a ship. A distinction is made between the shipyard heel test and the operational heel test .

A heeling test is carried out by applying a known heeling moment to an upright ship and measuring the resulting heel . The heel can be used to determine the initial metacentric height of the ship. The moment is created either by moving, loading, or deleting a known mass. In individual cases, this can be done, for example, by damming a cargo collision or pumping over liquid. Another possibility is to swing out a crane or loading boom twice - once without and then with a known mass.

• The shipyard heeling test is carried out particularly precisely in order to be able to determine the center of mass and the resulting parameters of a newly built ship for the first time. A shipyard heeling test is also carried out on ships that have been extensively converted in order to check the stability .
• The operating heeling test, on the other hand, can always be carried out during later operation if the current stability conditions are to be assessed using a practical procedure.

literature

• Helmers, Walter (ed.): Müller-Krauss, manual for ship management . Volume 3, seamanship and ship technology, part B. Springer Verlag, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-540-10357-0 .