Naval Architecture Lesson 7 1

LOADLINES

On each side of your ship you may observe markings which may look like the one below.

These markings are known as Loadlines. The circle with a horizontal line through its
centre is the Plimsoll Mark. It may have the letter LR marked on it. This is the
abbreviation for the Classification Society to which the ship belongs. In this case LR
stands for Lloyd’s Register.

If the ship belongs to some other registry, such as the American Bureau of Shipping for
example, then the letter AB instead of LR would be marked.

Other likely letters may include:

BV (Bureau Veritas)
NV (Det Norske Veritas)
GL (Germanscher Lloyd)
NK (Nippon Kaiji)

Other letters are also marked at specific locations as shown in the following diagram:

TF Tropical Fresh
F Fresh
T Tropical
S Summer

W Winter

PURPOSE OF LOADLINES

The underwater volume of the ship determines the displacement

displacement = underwater volume x density of water

Naval Architecture Lesson 7 2

In a similar manner, the volume of the ship above the the water to the freeboard deck is
the reserve buoyancy. The freeboard deck is the uppermost continuous deck with
permanent means of closing all openings.

Reserve buoyancy combats the effects of compartment flooding, provides stability at

large inclination angles and enhances seaworthiness when the ship is subjected to wind,
waves, currents, shifting of weights, and ice accretion.

There are standards of reserve buoyancy found by experience to be satisfactory in service.

The reserve is shown on ships by loadlines or Plimsoll marks which “reserve” the volume
above these marks up to the freeboard deck. Thus, we see the loadlines or Plimsoll marks
have to do with maintaining the safety of ship. It prevents a ship from being overloaded at
the expense of safety (reserve buoyancy). The placement of the loadline marks or
Plimsoll marks is governed by loadline regulations. These regulations consider the
geometry, hull strength, intended service and crew protection.

DIMENSIONS

The thickness, diameter of the Plimsoll mark and length of loadlines are all governed by
the Merchant Shipping, Loadlines Regulation, 1968.

All lines must have a thickness of 25 mm (2.5 cms). The dimensions of the loadlines are
shown in the following diagram.

The outer diameter of the disc is 300 mm.

The horizontal line with its upper edge passing through the centre of disc is 450 mm long.
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 3

The deck line is 300 mm long.

The centre of the disc is at a distance below the upper edge of the deck line equal to the
ship’s Statutory Freeboard.

The vertical line is 540 mm forward of the centre of the disc.

The horizontal lines emanating from the vertical lines are 230 mm long.

The vertical distance between the upper edges of ‘T’ and ‘S’ is 1/48th of the Summer
Draft.

Summer Draft is the draft of the ship when the upper edge of ‘S’ is on the waterline

The vertical distance between the upper edges of ‘W’ and of ‘S’ is 1/48th of the Summer
Draft.

The vertical distance between the upper edges of ‘TF’ and of ‘F’ is the same distance as
‘T’ is above ‘S’.

The vertical distance between the upper edges of ‘F’ and ‘S’ is equal to the Fresh Water
Allowance (FWA).

FWA is the change in mean draft in millimetres when a ship passes from saltwater (RD
1.025) to fresh water (RD 1.000) and vice versa , and is found from the formula:

FWA = Summer Displacement (mm)

4 x TPC

LOADLINE ZONES

In the early part of this note, you were introduced to the letters,

TF, F, T, S, W.

On small ships trading in the North Atlantic in winter, you may also find the letters WNA
in addition to the above. This stands for Winter North Atlantic, which applies only to
small ships of not more than 100 metres in length. The ‘WNA’ mark if carried is always
placed 50 mm below ‘W’.
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 4

These letters represents the loadline zones and stands for:

TF Tropical Fresh
F Fresh
T Tropical
S Summer
W Winter
WNA Winter North Atlantic

The M.S.Loadline Regulation, 1968 comes with a chart which shows the world oceans
and seas divided into the various zones. Ships are not allowed to submerge the loadlines
for the area in which they are in. For example, a ship sailing in the Tropical Zone must
not have the ‘TF’ line submerged and a ship sailing in the Summer Zone must not have
the ‘S’ line submerged.

A ship of 100 metres or less in length, trading in the North Atlantic during winter must
not have the ‘WNA’ line submerged.

Look for the Loadline Zone Chart on board. From your ship’s position, you should be
able to identify the zone that you are currently sailing in.

You should also note the month of the year as some areas change zones according to the
time of the year.

FRESH WATER ALLOWANCE

Fresh Water Allowance or FWA is the number of millimetres by which a ship’s mean
draft changes when she passes from salt water (RD 1.025) to fresh water (RD 1.000), or
vice versa. It is found by the formula:

Summer Displacement (in tonnes)

FWA (in mms) = ---------------------------------------------
4 x TPC
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 5

Find out the Summer Displacement of your ship and calculate the FWA.

Find out the Summer Draft of your ship and calculate the distance of ‘W’ below ‘S’,
‘T ’ above ‘S’ and ‘TF’ above ‘F’

Verify your answers from your ships's Loadline Certificate.

DOCK WATER ALLOWANCE

Dock Water Allowance or DWA is the number in millimetres by which a ship’s mean
draft changes when she passes from salt water (RD 1.025) to dock water (RD between
1.025 and 1.000) or vice versa. It is found by the formula:

DWA (mms) = FWA (1025 - RD dockwater)

---------------------------------------
1025 - 1000
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 6

DWA is simply a ratio of the FWA and its value will be between zero and the FWA
depending on the RD of the dock water.

LOADING AND DISCHARGING OF WEIGHTS TO OBTAIN DESIRED DRAFT

Many problems associated with loadlines involve the calculation of loading and
discharging of weights to obtain a desired draft.

Tonnes per Centimetre Immersion or TPC is the amount in tonnes that is required to
change a ship’s mean draft by 1 centimetre when floating in salt water (RD 1.025), e.g.
if the TPC of a ship is 10 tonnes, it simply means that if 10 tonnes of weight is loaded,
the mean draft will increase by 1 cm and conversely if 10 tonnes is discharged, the mean
draft will decrease by 1 cm.

The thickness of the load lines for example is 25 mm or 2.5 cm. Thus, a ship will have to
load or discharge (2.5 cm x TPC) just to change the waterline from the lower edge to the
upper edge of the loadline or vice versa.

The problem gets slightly more complicated when it involves a change in relative density
as you must now consider the DWA as well.
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 7

EXAMPLE 1

A ship has the following dimensions: When in the tropical zone she can load
the ship up to the Tropical (‘T’) mark.
Summer displacement 25,000 T
Summer draft 12 metres ‘T’ is 1/48th x summer draft above
TPC at summer draft 20 tonnes the Summer (‘S’) mark,

Find how much more cargo can she 1/48 x 12 = 0.25 m or 25 cms.
load when sailing in the Tropical
Zone in salt water. Therefore, she can load an additional
cargo of 25 x 20 = 500 tonnes.

EXAMPLE 2

A ship has the following dimensions: When in the summer zone she can load
up to the upper edge of the Summer (‘S’)
Summer displacement 25,000 T mark.
Summer draft 12 metres
TPC at summer draft 20 tonnes The waterline is presently 15 cm below
the lower edge of ‘S’
She is floating with the water line 15
cm below the lower edge of ‘S’. Total sinkage allowed is:

Find how much more cargo can she 15 cm + thickness of loadline

load when sailing in salt water in the
Summer Zone 15 + 2.5 = 17.5 cms

Therefore she can load another:

17.5 x 20 = 350 tonnes

Naval Architecture Lesson 7 8

EXAMPLE 3

A ship has the following dimensions:

Summer Displ
Summer displacement 25,000 T FWA = -----------------------
Summer draft 12 metres 4 x TPC
TPC at summer draft 20 tonnes
25000
The upper edge of the ‘S’ loadline is = ------------- = 625 mm
just touching water on her port side 4 x 20
and the lower edge of ‘S’ is 10 cm
above the water on her starboard In changing from RD 1.015 to RD 1.025,
side. The relative density of the water the DWA is,
is 1.015.
FWA (1025-1015)
Calculate the amount of cargo to load 25
if she is to float at her Summer mark = 250 mms = 25 cms
upon reaching salt water (assuming
that consumables are negligible). When list is zero, the upper edge of ‘S’
loadline is,

10 + 2.5 = 6.25 cms above the water.

2

When going for RD 1.015 to RD 1.025

the ship will rise bodily by the DWA,
25 cms.

Therefore, total sinkage allowed is,

25 cms + 6.25 cms = 31.25 cms

Amount of cargo to load is

= 31.25 x TPC (RD 1.015)

= 31.25 x 20 x 1.015/1.025

= 618.9 tonnes
 Naval Architecture Lesson 7 9

EXAMPLE 4

A ship has the following dimensions: FWA(1025-1010) 625 x 15

DWA = ------------------------ = -------------
Summer displacement 25,000 tonnes 25 25
Summer draft 12 meters
TPC at summer draft 20 tonnes = 375 mms i.e. 0.375 metres.
FWA 625 mms
Therefore, over the bar the ship will have a draft of
She arrived at a river mouth floating on
her summer draft in salt water. She is to = 12 + 0.375 = 12.375 metres,
proceed upriver and pass over a bar
which has a minimum depth of 11.9 which will be too deep if no weights are
metres with an underkeel clearance of discharged.
0.5 metre. The RD at the bar is 1.010
The draft required over the bar
Calculate the amount of weight to be
discharged if she is to clear the bar = 11.9 - 0.5 = 11.4 metres.
safely.
Therefore, the rise in draft required

= 12.375 - 11.4 = 0.975 metres or 97.5 cms.

The amount of weight to be discharged

= 97.5 x 20 x 1.010/1.025

= 1,921.46 tonnes
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 10

HOGGING AND SAGGING

When a ship is hogged or sagged there is a difference between the mean draft calculated
from averaging the drafts forward and aft and the draft amidships. The difference is the
amount of hog or sag. Taking the case of a ship with a sag, the draft amidships is greater
than the mean draft and conversely, in the case of a ship with a hog, the draft amidships is
smaller than the mean draft.

The Loadline Regulation requires a ship not to submerge the appropriate loadline
corresponding to the zone in which the ship is sailing. Thus, if the ship is in the summer
zone, the deepest that she can load is up to the upper edge of ‘S’, the summer mark.
However, if the ship is sagging, the loadline mark which is located amidship will
submerge earlier. The amount of cargo that can be loaded would therefore be less than
otherwise. On the other hand, when the ship is hogging, the loadline mark will submerge
later. The amount of cargo that can be loaded would therefore be more than otherwise.

Hogging and sagging corrections are provided for each ship and is added or subtracted
from the ship’s displacement accordingly.

EXAMPLE 5

A ship forward and aft drafts were Mean draft = (9.5 + 11.3)
9.5 m and 11.3 m repectively. Her 2
midship draft was 10.18 m.
Calculate the amount of hog/sag. = 10.4 m

Midship draft = 10.18 m

Hog = 10.4 - 10.18 = 0.22 m

(midship draft < mean draft)
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 11

EXAMPLE 6

A ship drafts read: Mean draft forward = 10.2 + 10.3

2
Forward 10.2 m port side and 10.3 m
starboard side. = 10.25 m

Aft 12.5 m port side and 12.6 m Mean draft aft = 12.5 + 12.6
starboard side. 2

Midship 11.65 m port side and 11.75 m = 12.55 m

starboard side.
Mean draft forward & aft = 10.25 + 12.55
Calculate the amount of hog/sag. 2

= 11.4 m

Mean draft midship = 11.65 + 11.75

2

= 11.70 m

Sag = 11.7 - 11.4 = 0.3 m

(midship draft > mean draft)
 Naval Architecture Lesson 7 12

EXAMPLE 7

The following details are from a ship Present freeboard = (1.04 + 1.08)/2 = 1.06 m
due to complete cargo for a sea passage Present mean draft = (8.31+8.59)/2 = 8.45 m
at her summer loadline:
Summer draft = 8.534
Present displacement 11,500 tonnes Summer Freeboard = 1.016
Present freeboards: port 1.04 m Depth = 9.550
starboard 1.08 m Present Freeboard = 1.060
Present drafts: F 8.31 m A 8.59 m in Present midship draft = 8.490
RD 1.012 Present mean draft = 8.450
Summer draft: 8.534 m SAG = 0.040 metres
Summer freeboard: 1.016 m i.e. 4 cms
FWA 160 mms TPC 18
DWA = FWA(1025-1012) = 160 x 13 = 83.2 mm
Calculate the amount of hog or sag and 25 25
the amount of cargo still to be loaded.
i.e 8.32 cms

Summer draft = 8.534

DWA = 0.0832
Dock water dr = 8.6172
Mean draft = 8.4500
Difference = 0.1672 metres = 16.72 cm
SAG = 4.00
Sinkage = 12.72 cms

Cargo to load = 12.72 x TPC(dock water)

= 12.72 x 18 x 1.012/1.025
= 226.056 tonnes
Naval Architecture Lesson 7 13

ASSIGNMENT
(to be submitted for markings)

1. a) State your ship’s name, and the following data obtainable on board:
i) summer draft
ii) summer displacement
iii) TPC at summer draft

b) From the above information, calculate:

i) FWA for your ship
ii) DWA if your ship floats in water of RD 1.015.

c) State clearly what the answers you obtained in (b) (i) and (ii) mean.

2. Provide a neat sketch on A4 size paper showing your ship’s loadline marks on the
starboard side. Do the same for the portside loadline marks. On both sketches
clearly indicate the ship’s forward direction and all markings and dimensions.

3. A ship’s stability data book gives her load displacement to be 18,000 tonnes and
TPC to be 26. If she is now loading in DW of 1.015, by how much may her
loadline be immersed so that she would not be overloaded.

4. A vessel is lying in the mouth of a river berth of density 1.009 tonnes per m3 with
her summer loadline 15mm above the water on the starboard side and 25 mm
above the water on the port side. Find how much cargo she can load to bring her
to her summer loadline in SW, if her summer displacement is 15,000 tonnes and
TPC is 30.

5. The following details are from a ship due to complete cargo for a sea passage at
her summer loadline:

Present displacement: 11,500 tonnes

Present freeboards, port : 1.31 m, starboard : 1.27m
Present drafts : F 7.78 m, A 8.42 m
RD: 1.010
Summer draft: 8.29m
Summer freeboard: 1.20m
FWA 180mm, TPC 20

Calculate the amount of hog or sag and the amount of cargo to be loaded.