5 Questions that can help in

Understanding of Squat effect on

ships
Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on July 21, 2016

Years back when I first came across the term squat, frankly I failed to understand
it. Well if you just want to know the mathematical formula and calculate the squat,
it is no rocket science. But to answer questions like Why do squat effect take
place may not be easy to understand.

Are you too in the same boat ?

Most of us know that Squat is the decrease in ships under keel clearance due to
vessels movement in the shallow water. And it is not a theoretical thing, it is a real
thing.
Incident of sinking of RO-RO vessel Herald of free enterprise was the result of
squat.
But squat is not always bad. In 2010, passenger vessel Oasis of the sea used the
squat to its advantage. It allowed squat to reduce its air draft. This helped the
vessel to safely pass under a bridge, which otherwise was not possible.
Incidents like these show how important the knowledge of squat is. But there are
many questions related to squat, answers to which are sometimes difficult to find.

In this post I will try to answer five of these questions related to squat that mariners
usually ask or enquire about.
Question 1: Why and how does squat effect
take place ?

The ships float in water because of one simple reason. There is no net force acting
on the ship. Now it is not that there are no forces acting on the ship. But all these
forces are equal and opposite in nature.

Two of these forces that act in opposite directions are gravitation force and
buoyancy. Force of gravity like to sink the ship and force of buoyancy likes to
make it float. Force of gravity continue to sink the vessel until force of buoyancy
becomes equal to force of gravity.

Even when we add a weight (cargo) on a floating ship, the gravitation force
increases. This will cause the ship to sink up to a point when force of buoyancy
(that increases as per the Archimedes principle) becomes equal to the gravitation
force.
If you wish to read more about Archimedes principle, you can do so by
clicking here, here or here.
The point I am trying to make here is that any increase or decrease in a force on or
around ship will affect the ship in a way that depends upon the direction of force.

Squat is the decrease in ships under keep clearance when it moves in shallow
water because of low pressure created under the ship.

Now the question is why do we have low pressure under the ship when it is
moving in shallow waters. The answer lies in Bernoullis theorem.

If you are OK with reading little bit of physics, you can read about the Bernoullis
theorem by clicking here or here.
But if you are in no mood to deviate from the topic of squat then you just need to
know following from Bernoullis theorem

As per Bernoullis theorem, in a flowing liquid if the flow velocity increases, the
pressure in the region would decrease. Above conclusion is drawn from
the Bernoullis law of conservation of mass in a flowing liquid. As per Bernoullis
theorem, the mass of flowing liquid in per unit area will always be same.
Now have you tried to run fast and felt air resistance acting on your chest ? You
feel some pressure on your chest. But do you feel similar pressure on your back ? I
am sure your answer is No.

You feel this pressure on your chest because your chest is trying to replace the air
as you move (or run) forward. The air so replaced by you fills the vacuum you
created by leaving your earlier position.
In the same way, when a ship moves forward it pushes the water forward. The
water all around must flow under and around the hull to replace the volume of
water pushed by the bow.

In open sea there is no problem for the water to flow under the hull. But in shallow
waters, this flow is restricted. This results in higher flow velocity of water passing
under the hull. And there is decrease in pressure because of high velocity of water
(as per Bernoullis theorem).

Now as the pressure at the bottom of the ship decrease, ship need to react in some
manner to compensate that. Remember we said, ships float because net force
acting on the ship is zero. This drop in pressure is compensated by the sinkage of
the vessel as the direction of this force (low pressure) is downwards.
But will this sinkage be bodily, by stern or by bow ? We will discuss it later.

Question 2: What are the factors

that affects Squat ?

Now that we know the reason behind squat effect, lets see what factors affects
squat.

Speed of the vessel

As we know the squat is caused by the low pressure that is developed under a ship
in shallow water. With more and more speed of the vessel, the squat will increase.
This is because with more speed, the vessel will push more water forward and
more water is required to fill that void.

This will cause more drop in pressure under the hull and vessel need to sink more
to compensate for that drop in pressure.

But we need to understand that the speed here is speed through water and not
speed over ground. Why, you may ask ?
Consider a ship moving at 6 Knots GPS speed with 6 knots current from astern. Is
the ship pushing any water forward ? No it isnt because the water is flowing with
the ship. In fact in this case ship will not be using engine as the ship will be
moving with the current. Will there be any squat in this case ? No there will not be
because as the ship is not pushing any water forward, no water is required to pass
under the hull of ship.

So the squat in this case will be zero because the ships speed through water is
zero. This is even when the ship is having a speed over ground (GPS speed) of 6
knots.

So we can say that squat depends upon the speed through water.
This is also the reason that vessel can experience squat while alongside in a river
with strong current. In this case vessels speed over ground is zero but speed
through water is equal to the the river current.

Block coefficient of the vessel

I am sure you already know what block coefficient of the vessel is. But I
will refresh this for those who might need it.
Block coefficient is the ratio of vessels underwater volume (Displacement) to the
volume of a box that this could fit in.

So for a box shaper vessel, the block coefficient will be 1.

But how does block coefficient of a vessel affect Squat ?

Again it all depends upon how much water a moving ship pushes forward. Let me
ask a question. Which ship will push more water while moving. A box shaped
vessel or a vessel like this in the picture below.

I am assuming that you have got it right. Yes, a box shaped vessel will push more
water and hence will have more squat compared to the ship in the photo above
provided all other conditions are same.

So more the block coefficient of the vessel, more will be the squat.

Blockage factor of the canal and narrow channel

Canals and narrow channels creates a different scenario. In a canal, Apart from
having shallow water beneath, even the sideways water flow is restricted. This
creates additional low pressure which affects the squat.

But how do we know if the blockage factor exists or not.

Blockage factor is a ratio of ships immersed cross section to the cross section of
water within the canal.

We can calculate the blockage factor by this formula

Blockage factor = b x h / B x H
Blockage factor of less than 0.100 represents open sea like conditions and hence no
blockage factor.

Blockage factor of 0.265 represents narrow channel.

Question 3: How do we know if the squat will

result in forward trim, aft trim or no trim ?

As we discussed, in shallow depths, the water tries to fill the void created by
moving ship. For the fine-form ships like Queen Mary 2, the bow of the ship will
not obstruct the water flow as much as the mid and aft section of the ship. This is
because of the shape of the bow.

In this case the effective low pressure will be aft of the midship. This will cause the
stern to sink more than the bow and will result in trimming aft because of squat.

With full-form ships like super-tankers, it is other way around. On these ships bow
shape is what we call full-form. Because of which bow obstruct considerable
amount of water flow. The resultant low pressure created by the obstruction is
forward of the midship and these vessel squat will occur more at the bow. This will
result in trimming forward because of squat on these vessels.

The tendency of the bow to obstruct the water flow is related to the block
coefficient of the vessel. Block coefficient of the vessel also defines if the vessel
will squat bodily, by stern or by bow.

By various calculations, shipping scholars have got a defining value (0.7) of block
coefficient. If the block coefficient is 0.7, the vessel will squat bodily. If the block
coefficient is less than 0.7, the vessel will squat by stern. Finally if the block
coefficient is more than 0.7, the vessel will squat by bow.
Dr Barrass has done extensive research on the topic of squat. And as per him,
above rule will only be applicable when the ship is at even keel in static position.

As per him, if the vessel is trimmed by stern in static position, the maximum squat
will be towards stern. And if the vessel is trimmed by bow, the maximum squat
will be towards bow.

So we can conclude as per below

Question 4: How can we calculate Squat ?

This is most important question. How can we calculate squat ?

There are two ways to know how much squat you can expect. One with the help of
a software and second by manual calculation.

Calculating Squat manually

There are number of formulas to calculate squat. But Dr Barrasss formula is
widely used for calculating squat. Dr Barrasss formula has several version ranging
from the complex formula to the simpler ones.

Have a look at the complex one.

This formula has a simpler version which takes into account blockage factor.
And more simpler formula and which is used by most of the navigators is the most
simplified version of Dr. Barrasss formula.
If you notice, the simplified formula above is derived by applying the blockage
factor of open sea (0.100) and that of a canal (0.265).

Calculating squat with a software

There are plenty of softwares available to calculate squat. If you are using a
software onboard for calculating squat, make sure that it has been provided by your
shore office. Random softwares can give wrong values and as such can lead to mis-
calculation of squat.

One of the authentic and good software for calculating squat is UKC manager.
To calculate the squat on UKC manager software, open UKC manager and enter
ships static data.
Next enter ships dynamic data. In the dynamic data we just need to enter the
values of draft at forward and aft perpendicular. Rest of the data is not required if
you only need to have the value for squat.
Next enter topographical data. If you are in doubt about sea type (open, restricted
or canal), assume canal for being on safer side.
Now under the UKC Calculation options we can tell the software what we want
to know ? Do we want to know the speed at which we can achieve required UKC ?
Or do we want to know at what height of tide we can achieve the required UKC ?
or do we want to know what should be our static draft to achieve the required UKC
?
After choosing the required option, we can save and then click on results.

It will give the required results in complete detail which navigators can use for
navigation.
Question 5: What are the signs that
show vessel is experiencing squat

While we need to allow the squat while calculating the ships UKC in all stages of
voyage, there are certain signs which can show that we have entered in the shallow
waters. Knowledge of these signs can help the navigators to be more vigilant and
keep an eye on the echo sounder.

Presence of these signs is also a good time to re-confirm the squat with your
calculation. For example if we expect our UKC to be 5 meters at this position and
actual UKC is 4 meters, it would be better that we reduce our UKC by 1 meter in
other stages of the voyage. We can then re-calculate if we are complying with
UKC policy of the company. If not we can calculate at what speed we can comply
and proceed at that speed.
 So what are these signs which show that vessel is in shallow water and is
experiencing squat ? These signs are

Ships steering becomes sluggish. That is it becomes comparitively difficult to

steer the ship

Engine rpm will decrease to compensate for the load on the engine.

The speed of the ship will decrease. I have experienced with 0.7 meters UKC,
vessel moving at full ahead only making 6 knots GPS speed.

The ship may start to vibrate

Mud showing up around ships hull

Vessels rolling and pitching reduced

Turning diameter of the vessel increases (it can become as much as twice to that in
open sea)

Conclusion

Squat is not a theoritical term. It is a real practical phenomenon experienced on

ships moving in shallow waters. People have lost life because of ships that sank
because of squat. Ship owners have lost millions of dollars because of grounding
of ships.

It makes more and more important to have complete knowledge of squat and
answer to these five questions can help in that.

Do you know any other question related to squat that has gone unanswered ?