PROJECT THEME no.

2
SHIP GEOMETRY
The need to ensure appropriate nautical qualities for the constructive type and purpose of
the ship, led to a very complex geometry of its body. To meet the needs of theoretical study of
the ship hull, both architectural and constructive point of view, was introduced the concept of
theoretical surface.
For ships with metallic hull, the theoretical surface is defined by the underside of the hull,
and for the ships whose body is made of other materials theoretical surface is defined by the
outside of the hull.
Main projection planes
The Center Plane (fore-and-aft plane), is a longitudinal vertical plane that divides the
hull into two symmetrical parts. Looking in the normal direction of the ship movement, these
parts are:
Port board, located to the left side of the center plane;
Starboard, located to the right side of the center plane.
The geometry of the ship in the center plane is defined by the following types of lines:
- 1 keel line, is the line resulting from the intersection of the center plane with the
upper surface of the keel. Ship's keel is defined by the steel bottom shell next to the center
plane. Keel line can be horizontal or inclined;
- 2 Deck line into center plane, is the line resulting from the intersection of the center
plane of the underside of the deck shell; Deck line in the center plane has a curvature named
deck sheer into center plane;
- 3 Fore line or bow line is the line resulting from the intersection of the center plane
with the outside surface of the bow. Bow is that part which closes the ship to the front end.
The bow is designed to reduce the resistance of the hull cutting through water and should be
tall enough to prevent water from easily washing over the top of it. Bow line can take
different forms (right, flaring, spoon-shaped curve, segmented, with the bulbous shaped table,
with drop-shaped bulbous and so on.) depending on the ship destination;
- 4 Aft line or Stern line is the line resulting from the intersection of the center plane
with the outside surface of the stern. Stern is that part which closes the ship to the aft end.
Stern line can take different forms, depending on: ship destination, propeller and active
steering system type.
Midship Cross Plane,
, is an transverse vertical plane passing through the main
midship cross section and divides the ship body into two unsymmetrical parts:
The bow part, located in the front with respect to the normal direction of ship movement;
The stern part, located in the rear with respect to the normal direction of ship movement.
The main midship cross section, named also midship or chief frame, is the maximum
cross-sectional area of the vessel. For the purposes of theoretical concepts of naval
architecture, the midship is arranged at half of the length of the ship.
The geometry of the ship in the midship cross plane is defined by the following types of
lines:
- 1 bottom line is the line resulting from the intersection of the midship plane with the
upper face of the bottom shell. Bottom line can have different shapes (straight, curve, V, stars,
etc.);
- -2 deck line is the line resulting from the intersection of the midship plane with the
upper face of the deck shell. Deck line in the midship plane has a curvature named deck sheer
into midship plane. This curvature is designed to allow water to run off the deck board.

CENTER PLANE
2 deck line in center plane
CENTER PLANE
PROJECTION

6 borders deck line

2 deck line in midhip

plane

STERN SIDE
EMERGED PART

COMPLETE
WATER LINE

SUBMERGED PART

COMPLETE
WATER LINE

BOW SIDE

4 stern line

3 bow line

Base line

5 BOARD LINE
(PORT)

Port

Emerge

Submerge Starboard

5 BOARD LINE
(STARBOARD)

1 bottom line

1 keel line

MIDSHIP CROSS PLANE

5 BOARD LINE
(PORT)

PORT SIDE
BOW SIDE
CENTER PLANE
PROJECTION

STERN SIDE
STARBOARD SIDE

5 BOARD LINE (STARBOARD)

COMPLETE WATER PLANE

-5 board line or plating line in the midship cross plane is the line resulting from the
intersection of this plane with the inner face of the side shell of the ship. Board line may be
vertical or inclined master.
The locus of points of intersection of the deck line in the midship cross plane with the
boards line corresponding to all cross sections of the ship's length, is a spatial curve, whose
projection onto the center plane defines the borders deck line (6).
Water Plane is a horizontal longitudinal one, aligned with the free surface of still water
and divide the hull into two unsymmetrical parts:
The submerged part of the ship, named also the hull, is the underwater parts of ship;
The emerged part of the ship is the above water parts of ship.
The geometry of the ship in this plane is defined by the following types of lines:
- 5 board line or plating line in the water plane is the line resulting from the intersection
of this plane with the inner face of the side shell of the ship.
Projection of
onto center plane is a vertical line dividing vessel section in two
unsymmetrical parts: bow and stern.
Projection of
onto water plane is a horizontal line dividing vessel section in two
unsymmetrical parts: bow and stern.
Projection of center plane onto
is a vertical line dividing vessel section in two
symmetrical parts: port and starboard.
Projection of center plane onto water plane is a horizontal line dividing vessel section in
two symmetrical parts: port and starboard.
Projection of water plane onto center plane is a longitudinal horizontal line dividing
vessel section in two unsymmetrical parts: emerged and submerged.
Projection of water plane onto
is a transversal horizontal line dividing vessel section
in two unsymmetrical parts: emerged and submerged.
Projections of both water plane and center plane onto
, is named also Water Line
(WL). For the full vessel load, the water line is named Complete Water Line (CWL).
Auxiliary projection plane
Auxiliary projection plane used in the study of hull geometry is the Base Plane. Base
Plane is a longitudinal horizontal one, passing through the keel point, K, which is the
intersection point of center plane with midship plane and keel line.
Projections of the base plane onto both center and midship planes, are horizontal lines
(longitudinal respective transversal) and are named base line.
The main dimensions of the ship
The ships length
The complete water line length, LCWL, is the distance measured into center plane, on the
complete water line, between the points of intersection of this line with the bow line and the
stern line.
Length between perpendiculars, Lpp, is the distance measured into center plane, on the
complete water line, between the points of intersection of this line with the bow line and the
rudder shaft. Statistically, Lpp 0,960,98LCWL
Theoretical length (or computing length) is the maximum of: distance measured into
center plane on the complete water line, from the leading edge of the bow to the rudder shaft
and 0.96 of the length measured in the same float, from the leading edge of the bow to the
stern end.
Maximum length, Lmax, is the distance measured into center plane, in horizontal direction,
between the extreme points of stern and bow of the ship.

Rudder shaft

Lmax
CENTER PLANE

F
CWL

CWL

L pp

LCWL
MIDSHIP CROSS PLANE

COMPLETE WATER PLANE

The ships breadth (beam)

Theoretical breadth, Bx, is the distance measured into
, onto complete water line
CWL, between points of intersection of this line with board lines.
Maximum breadth, Bmax, is the distance measured into
, on horizontal direction,
between points of intersection of deck sheer into midship plane with board lines.
For the ships with vertical boards, Bmax Bx , and for the ships with sloping edges,
Bmax Bx .
The ships draft
The draft, (T for Russian literature or d for English literature), is the distance measured
into
, or into center plane, on vertical direction, between base plane and water plane.
The ships construction height (depth)
The ships depth, D, is the distance measured into
, on the vertical direction, between
base plane and intersection point of deck line with board line.
The distance, measured into center plane, on vertical direction, onto projection of midship
plane between the two sheer deck lines, is named arrow sheer (f).
The freeboard height, FT is the distance measured on vertical direction between draft, T
and depth, D ( FT D T )
Dimensions ratio
The dimensions ratio described the geometry, strength and nautical qualities of the ship.
The main ratios of dimensions are as follows:
The ratio between the complete water line length and the theoretical breadth of the ship
LCWL
is an indication of the speed and maneuverability of the ship and the values range are
Bx
from 4 to 14. Lower values correspond to small vessels, slow and with high maneuverability.
High values correspond to fast, large vessels and with low maneuverability.
L
The ratio between the complete water line length and the construction height CWL is an
D
indication of the longitudinal resistance vessel of the ship and the values range are from 9 to
15. Lower values characterizing high longitudinal strength of the ship and large values the
low longitudinal strength.
B
The ratio between breadth of the ship and construction height x is an indication of the
D
ship stability and transversal strength, and its values are between 1.3 and 2. Lower values
correspond to low ship stability and high transverse strength, and high values for vessels with
high stability and low transverse strength.
B
The ratio between breadth of the ship and draft x is an indication of stability and road
T
stability, and the values range is from 2 to 10. Lower values characterizing the ship with
reduce stability but good road stability, and large values the ship with good stability but with
low road stability.
D
The ratio between construction height and draft
is an indication for possibility of
T
navigating in shallow waters, load capacity and unsinkable capacity, and the values of it are
comprised between 1.05 and 2.
The fineness coefficients
The coefficient of fineness of a surface is defined by the ratio of the area of that surface
and regular geometric figure area which can be entered (usually a rectangle).

The surface coefficients of fineness of the ship are following:

The fineness coefficient of complete water plane, CW, is defined by the ratio between the
area of this surface, ACWL , and the area of the rectangle (into she falls) with sides LCWL , BX :
ACWL
.
CW
LCWL B X
The fineness coefficient of midship section, CM, is defined by the ratio between the area of
this surface, AM , and the area of the rectangle (into she falls) with sides Bx , T :
A
CM M .
BX T
The fineness coefficient of drift section, CD, is defined by the ratio between the area of
this surface, AD , and the area of the rectangle (into she falls) with sides LCWL , T :
AD
.
CD
LCWL T
The coefficient of fineness of a volume is defined by the ratio of that volume and the
regular geometric body volume can be entered (usually a right prism).
The volume, V, of the immersed part of the body ship, limited by the theoretical surface,
it is called hull.
The volumetric coefficients of fineness of the ship are following:
The block coefficient, C B , is defined by the ratio of the hull volume and the volume of the
parallelepiped (into he falls) with sides: LCWL , Bx , T :
V
CB
LCWL Bx T

The longitudinal prismatic fineness coefficient, C LP , is defined by the ratio of the hull
volume and the volume of the parallelepiped (into he falls) with base area AM and height
LCWL :
C L B T CB
V
C LP
B CWL x

AM LCWL CM LCWL Bx T CM
The vertical prismatic fineness coefficient, CVP , is defined by the ratio of the hull volume
and the volume of the parallelepiped (into he falls) with base area ACWL and height T :
C L B T CB
V
C LP
B CWL x

ACWL T CW LCWL Bx T CW
The transverse prismatic fineness coefficient, CTP , is defined by the ratio of the hull
volume and the volume of the parallelepiped (into he falls) with base area AD and height Bx :
C L B T CB
V
CTP
B CWL x

AD Bx CW LCWL Bx T C D