🔍 Key Concepts

• Trim of the vessel in normal loading conditions (by the bow or by the stern?) • How list (port/starboard heel) affects where water collects in a flat‑bottomed engine room • Why having more than one bilge well in machinery spaces might be important for redundancy and effective drainage

💭 Think About

• Think about where water will naturally flow in the engine room when the ship is in its usual trim condition. Will it collect more toward the forward end or the aft end? • If the ship develops a list to port or starboard, how would the location of bilge wells help ensure that at least one well still gathers water effectively? • Is it safer to rely on one central collection point or on more than one, and why might that matter in machinery spaces?

✅ Before You Answer

• Verify where merchant vessels are most commonly trimmed under normal operating conditions (by the bow or by the stern). • Consider whether bilge wells on both port and starboard sides would improve the ability to pump out water when the vessel is heeled. • Check if machinery space bilge arrangements usually favor aft corners versus forward corners, given propeller, shafting, and engine weight distribution.