Author(s)

J. Jankowski, M. Bogdaniuk & T. Dobrosielski

Abstract

Bulk carriers have been designed with a small margin of safety. The extensive corrosion and very difficult operational conditions cause that some old bulk carriers have insufficient strength to withstand the heaviest storms. In particular, the insufficient strength concerns the side structures and hatch covers and, after flooding, the corrugated bulkheads, double bottom structure and the general strength of the ship. The paper presents analyses of the buoyancy, stability and strength of bulk carriers in flooded conditions. The analyses are performed for different loading conditions: alternate loading (cargo in every second hold) and uniform (cargo in each hold) distribution of heavy cargo. 1 Introduction Heavy losses of bulk carriers in the period since 1990 [1] (over 100 ships and over 600

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