Provided the volume of the damaged compartment, its average location from the centerline, Keel

& midships and the water density is known, the shift in G can be predicted along with the
consequences of this shift upon the draft, trim and list of the ship.

4.7.2.1 Permeability

An added complication to the analysis of a damaged ship is the space available in a damaged
compartment for the water to fill.

When a compartment is flooded, it is rare for the total volume of this compartment to be
completely filled with water. This is because the compartment will already contain certain
equipment or stores depending upon its use. The ratio of the volume that can be occupied by
water to the total gross volume is called the “permeability”.

volume available for flooding

Permeability = =µ
total gross volume

The table below from “Basic Ship Theory - 4th Edition” by Rawson & Tupper lists some typical
ship compartment permeabilities.

Space Permeability (%)

Watertight Compartment (Warship) 97
Watertight Compartment (Merchant Ship) 95
Accommodation Spaces 95
Machinery Compartments 85
Dry Cargo Spaces 70
Bunkers, Stores or Cargo Holds 60

We should now be in a position to perform simple added weight damage calculations.

Example 4.3 An FFG-7 displacing 3992 LT and of length 408 ft has KG = 18.5 ft, TCG = 0 ft.
It is floating in sea-water at level trim with a draft of 16.0 ft. At this draft, TPI =
33.0 LT/in, MT1" = 793.4 LT-ft/in and LCF = 24.03 ft aft of midships.
A collision causes the complete flooding of the auxiliary machinery space. This
space has a volume of 6400 ft3, permeability of 85% and a centroid on the
centerline, 6.6 ft above the keel and 30ft fwd of midships.

Calculate:
a. The KG in the damaged condition.
b. TCG in the damaged condition.
c. The T fwd in the damaged condition.

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