Your vessel has been damaged in a grounding and one compartment has partially flooded. As a result, you have lost buoyancy. If transverse stability in the flooded condition is poor or negative, every effort should be made to reduce the free surface and to lower the center of gravity. Which of the following should you ensure is maintained?
• Transverse stability and what GM (metacentric height) tells you about it • Effect of free surface and flooded compartments on GM and reserve buoyancy • Difference between stability (GM), list, and reserve buoyancy in a damaged condition
• Ask yourself: in a damaged, partially flooded condition with poor or negative GM, what is the single most critical safety factor you must preserve to avoid capsizing, even if other conditions are not ideal? • Consider how free surface in tanks or compartments changes GM. Which choice best supports reducing free surface and improving or protecting GM? • Think about whether having no list is always safer than having some list, if the price of ‘no list’ is reduced stability or reduced buoyancy.
• Verify which option directly relates to overall stability and survivability after flooding, not just comfort or appearance of the vessel • Check which choice is about the ship’s ability to stay afloat and upright rather than just replicating pre-grounding conditions • Be sure you understand that neutral GM (G at M) is a marginal condition; consider whether you really want to maintain a merely neutral GM in an emergency.
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