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5 Loadicator tricks that can ease your

life during cargo operation
Written by Capt Rajeev Jassal on March 6, 2016
Have you ever imagined our life on board without loadicator?

While some intellectuals might find it of no difference to live without it,

most of us can imagine how difficult it will be to calculate trims, drafts
etc manually.
And most difficult part (rather an impossible one) will be to calculate
Shear forces (SF) & bending moments (BM) manually.

So while most of us agree that loadicator has made our life onboard
(Definitely the chief officer’s)  simple, are we using our loadictor to
only calculate drafts, trims and stability?

There are many other things that we can use loadicator for. This post
will highlight at least five of these things you can do with loadicator.

But before you do anything with loadicator, it is important to ensure

that loadicator complies with the testing and carriage requirements.
Assuming your loadicator complies with all requirements, Let us take a
recap of what we generally do with Loadicator.

Usual things everyone does on Loadicator

The first thing we do on receiving the voyage instructions is planning

the stowage.

And the first thing we keep our eyes on while planning the stowage on
loadicator is trim and list.

Loadicator provides information on the trim and list that the vessel will
have in a particular stage of the stowage.

Other than trim and list, we also ensure that shear forces and bending
moments does not exceed the safe limits.

Loadicators give the SF and BM values as the percentage of allowed

limit. Ship staff is expected to keep it to the minimum but in any case
less than 100% of the allowed limits.

Even keeping the SF & BM closer to but less than 100% over a longer
period & multiple voyages can have the cracks developing in the ship’s
structure.
And for this reason, we should always do our best to keep these values
to the minimum. Loadicator off course help us to find these values with
few clicks.

Vessels are also required to comply with the intact stability

requirement as per SOLAS.  Again Loadicator helps us to get values to
judge if we comply with these requirements.

Ships are also required to comply with damage stability criteria by

different regulations.
For example, chemical tankers are required to comply with damage
stability criteria by IBC code (International code of carriage of
chemicals in Bulk).

Similarly, oil tankers are required to comply with damage stability

criteria by Marpol & gas tankers by IGC code.

Until now it was not a requirement for ship’s loadicators to have the
capability of calculating damage stability. But Marpol, IBC code, and
IGC code was amended by Res MEPC 248(66), Res MSC.369
(93) and Res MSC.370 (93) respectively. First special survey after 01
Jan 2016, all tankers need to have loadicator that can calculate
damage stability.
But even before this requirement, many ships were provided with the
loadicators that could calculate the compliance with damage stability
requirements.

Additional tasks that can be performed on Loadicator

Apart from the usual task that we perform on loadicator, there are
some other tasks which can come very handy.

1. Online Loading or unloading rate

If your loadicator is online, you can also get live loading or discharging
rate from individual tanks and as total rate. This information can be
very handy when you are loading in more than one tank.

If you need to receive the cargo in these tanks equally, this function of
loadicator can be used. Similarly, if you need to receive lesser cargo in
one or few tanks, again this information comes handy.

If you are correcting list during loading or discharging, looking at the

live rate can give you a fair indication of the effectiveness of your
actions.

This rate in loadicator is calculated as an average over a particular

time.

Say if the time for calculating average is set to 10 minutes, loadicator

will calculate the difference in cargo quantity for last 10 minutes and
average it for one hour to give you loading or discharge rate.
In some loadicators, you can change these timings as per your
requirement. If provided, you must take advantage of this function.
Here is how?

If you are looking for average loading rate for last say one hour or two
hours, you should set the time for one or two hours.

But if you want the current loading rate, the time should be set to 5 to
10  minutes. You would ask why 5 to 10 minutes and why not 1 minute
or 1 hour?

If you set the time too less, any small fluctuation will give you wrong
loading rate. Also, your loading rate will fluctuate all the time.

If you set the time too high, you will get the average rate for that time
but that might not be the present rate. For example, if you have set
the time to 1 Hour, and you stopped the cargo for 10 minutes. You
would still get a rate averaged for last 1 hour which will not be your
present rate.

2. Calculating constants with loadicator

Have you ever heard someone say, “drafts on this loadicator shows 10
cms less on aft and 20 cms more on forward”? I am sure you must
have.

These may sometimes be fixed errors, but many times these errors are
variable with different loading conditions. The only solution to it is to
accurately enter constants in loadicator.

Accurate constants don’t only means accurate weights but also the
longitudinal (LCG) and vertical (VCG) position of the constants.

Calculating the constants manually isn’t a rocket science but is still a

tedious process. Some of the loadicator has this functionality inbuilt.

Here is how constants in loadicator are calculated.

First, you need to enter all known weights such as cargo, bunkers,
ballast, lube oil, fresh water etc in the loadicator. Make the constants
zero in the loadicator.

Then go to constants calculation section of the lodicator and enter

actual drafts ( six drafts, FWD port & stbd, Aft port & stbd and midship
Port & stbd) as accurately as possible.

These drafts need to be visual drafts. If you cannot visually check six
drafts, it is important to check at least three drafts on one side and
midship draft on the other side. Ensure list is absolutely zero and enter
the other drafts accordingly.

Next enter the seawater density. You need to physically measure the
density of the dock water by collecting the water sample. This is very
 important.  If you are conversant with the draft survey calculations you
know how a slight change in density can offset the value of your
constants by a larger margin.

While taking the sample of dock water, you should take the sample
from mid of the seawater depth.

After entering all the values, click on calculate constants, and whoop.
Loadicator calculates weight as well as location (LCG and VCG) of
constants you should enter in the loadicator.

No more errors in the loadicator drafts. What you get on loadicator is

what you will have in actual.

3. Shifting weights to get desired trim, list or draft

This function of Loadicator would be useful if we need following

1. If we need to reduce/increase trim from present condition

2. If we need to bring the ship to upright condition by shifting cargo or

ballast

3. If we need to reduce aft draft to certain level

As you know these are very common situations chief officer & Master
find themselves in. And then we shift the weights arbitrarily to bring
the ship to the desired condition.

But most of the loadicators have this function where you can set the
desired condition (Like list to be zero or trim to be 1.5 m or both and
choose the tanks from where the weights can be adjusted. Rest will be
done by the loadicator. It will give you the final weights these tanks
should have to bring the ship to the desirable condition.
For example, like on this loadicator, you need to go to “Trim/heeling
adjustment” from the main menu

You can set the desired trim or list and choose the tanks which you
want to switch weights. After choosing all this, you click on calculate
It will calculate the weight to transfer and will give you before/after
summary of these tanks to get your desired results.
4. Replacing ullage tables with Loadicator

Did you know with some loadicators, you don’t need to look at those
ullage tables anymore ? You just enter the ullage of a particular tank in
the loadicator and it will give you volume that will match with your
ullage table.
While all loadicators can give volumes for ullages, but not all matches
with the ullage tables. The reason can be any of the following

1) Some loadicators do not correct the ullage for the trim and list.
These loadicators give the volume at zero trim and zero list. If the ship
has trim during final calculation, you have to use ullage tables for
volumes.

There are very few loadicators which can correct the volumes for trim
and list. But there are many ships where there is no trim & list
correction to the volume or ullage.

These are the ships which have the ullage port located at the center of
the tank.
For example, see the image above. As you can see if the ullage port is
located at the center of the tank, there is no change in the ullage with
a change in trim. On these ships, you can directly take the ullage from
the loadicator.

Even if your loadicator doesn’t correct the ullages for trim and list to
give volume, it is still possible that volumes from loadicator and ullage
table match. This is when in ullage tables, trim correction is applied on
the ullage and not on the volume.
For example, if we look at ullage table in the image above, trim
correction is applied to the volumes. So say for 4-meter ullage with 1-
meter stern trim, ullage table will have the volume 2350.1 m3. But
loadicator will show the volume as 2350.6 m3. So in this example, you
cannot take volumes from loadicator for the final calculations.

2) The difference in volumes for same ullage in loadicator and ullage

table can also be because of different reference point.The loadicator
and ullage tables may be based upon different reference points for
measurement.
For example, see the image above. You will usually find this kind of
image on the front few pages of your ullage table.

The image is from actual ullage table of a ship. And as you can see the
reference for reading ullage in this ullage tables is the MMC (or UTI)
read out point. But your loadicator might be measuring the ullage from
either the tank top (height B) or from vapor lock (height B+H).

If that is the case, you cannot take volume from the loadicator for the
ullages taken by UTI or MMC.
5. Wedge calculation

Wedge calculation is done to calculate the volume of the cargo when

cargo does not extend to the entire surface of the tank.

There is a considerable amount of calculation to calculate the volume

by wedge formula. But imagine if this can be automatically calculated
by loadicator.
Many loadicator especially on crude oil tankers can calculate the
volume by wedge formula.
For example, see the image of a loadicator screen. In this, you just
need to enter the variables and it will give you the volume of each tank
calculated by the wedge formula.

You can even get the wedge calculation sheet which you can save or
print.
Conclusion

Loadicator has become an important instrument onboard. Gone are the

days of manually calculating compliance data related to cargo
operation.

But most of the loadicators are designed to provide many functions,

which are not otherwise required as per legislations. Knowing and
using these functions can ease the life during cargo operations to a
certain extent.

There are hundreds of approved makers for loading computer

software. Each of these offers something unique apart from the basic
functions. Knowledge of these add ons and using these can really ease
life during cargo operations to a certain extent.
Do you know any other add on functions that your loading computer
offer?

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About Capt Rajeev Jassal

Capt. Rajeev Jassal has sailed for over 19 years mainly on crude oil, product and
chemical tankers. He holds MBA in shipping & Logistics degree from London. He has
done extensive research on quantitatively measuring Safety culture onboard and
safety climate ashore which he believes is the most important element for safer
shipping.

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46 Comments

concerned sailor 
Mar 11, 2016
Capt Rajeev, very nicely written article. most officers/crew on ship are well aware of
their jobs. their professional competency is usually good. where we fail is in utilizing
the most important asset given to us, which is the crew. man management & soft
skills are the most important quality a management level officer has to have. we are
all aware that many indian seafarers do not want to sail with an indian master for
reasons as flimsy as "poor food" or "too much interference in work" etc etc. we need
to do something to to change our image. master sometimes is unable to handle his
subordinates and he threatens them by spoiling their appraisal etc. we need to have a
broader outlook on things while handling people on ship. would end by requesting to
pls post an article on man management successfully at sea! Best regards.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Apr 24, 2016
During our sailing career, we get to sail with different kind of people. We should make
it a point to only draw positives from everyone. And sure there is something positive
in everyone. Thanks for suggesting a topic for writing..
Reply

A khan 
May 6, 2016
Thx lot sir...could you tell sir..testing procedure of loadicator. Regards
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
May 7, 2016
Please go to this link. http://www.myseatime.com/blog/detail/compliance-with-
loadicator-testing-and-its-records I hope this is what you are looking for. If you have
any other question please let me know.
Reply

Rahul Dutt 
Jun 12, 2016
Good Day Sir, I am appearing fr mates orals if u can please share your knowledge on
how to calculate SF and BM if the loadicator fails and on criteria are limits of SF and
BM based. Thanking yoy in advance
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Jul 16, 2016
There is no practical way that we can calculate SF & BM onboard ships. We learn to
calculate SF & BM for a box shaped vessel to get an understanding of how SF and BM
are calculated. But the manual calculation of SF & BM for an actual vessel is very very
difficult if not impossible. We need a software (Loadicator) to calculate that.
Reply

Vijay Pandey 
Jul 17, 2016
Dear sir, This article is more about loadicator tricks which are applicable to tankers,
kindly advise the tricks which are applicable to bulk carriers.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Jul 18, 2016
I will try to post that Vijay but I need to either get my hands on bulk carrier loadicator
or find somebody to write for bulk carrier which we are trying..
Reply

ARVIND 
Aug 21, 2016
Rajeev sir..good day..Had querry regarding loading of heavy lift ..i understand this
question is different from Tanker part..Can i load a heavy lift of 200tons on area of
1x2 m2 on surface of load density 100 tons..means same as load density..if yes then
why/if no then why?kindly explain..
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Aug 22, 2016
Hello Arvind, I assume load density is 100 T/m2. This means that in 1 m2 area it is
allowed to load 100 tons. Based on that on 2m2 area we can load 200 tons of cargo
provided that weight of the heavy lift is evenly distributed and the base of the heavy
lift is of 2m2. This means that we can load 200 T of box shaped weight with surface
area of 2m2. When we calculate the area we take the surface area of the weight and
not the surface area of the available space.
Reply

Arvind 
Aug 28, 2016
Rajeev sir..thanx again..do we consider the stress for lashing the heavy weight on
tanktop which might exceed more than 100t/m2..if we tighten the lashing ..
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Sep 1, 2016
Yes..we may have to consider that for theoretical purposes. For practical purposes I
am not sure if it is taken into consideration because when we say load density 100
T/m2, it does not mean that at 101 T, the tank top will break. There are considerable
amount of safety factors taken into account while declaring load density. These safety
factors will take care of these small variation.
Reply

Lee 
Aug 24, 2016
Sir, thank you for thr blog its very informative. Please if you can write topic of how
chief mates update there loadicator at sea. Where did the get there figures like fuels
consumed and others and how they get arrival conditions. I have sailed with mates
where when sailing from ports can provide sailing condition and arrival condition of
next port which is 2 weeks voyage thank very much
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Aug 25, 2016
Lee, the figures for fuel consumed for calculating the arrival condition of future ports
are estimates which chief mate gets either from the chief engineer or he can calculate
basis number of days and fuel consumed per day..
Reply

Gaurav bahuguna 
Sep 8, 2016
Good day sir ,I am appearing for my 2nd mate orals and I wanted to know how to
correct the angle of heel if the ship is at sea and what are the stresses the ship
undergo. Thanks
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Sep 8, 2016
The best way to correct heel is by ballasting. But if the vessel is loaded to the
maximum and ballasting is not an option then we can consume the bunkers in a way
to correct the list. Or we can also transfer the bunkers.
Reply

MRG 
Oct 4, 2016
Rajeev is correct. Vessels have Stability documents/loading manual that would give
the method and values for manual calculations. This is involved and very interesting.
There are worked example(s), and you can master this by calculating say 3 times. It
requires a bit of focus and "can do" attitude. For oral examination you may refer to
the documents above, and respond as above. If possible examine a loading manual.
Cheers, MRG from Vancouver.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Oct 9, 2016
Thanks MRG for contributing your views..
Reply

Lee 
Oct 12, 2016
Sir, please can you write about loadicator longitudinal strength curve. SF and BM in
loadicator. What to look at and what those curves mean and what to avoid. Thank you
very much for your time.
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Mar 13, 2017
At any time during loading, unloading and voyage the actual SF and BM should be less
than 100% of the allowed limit.
Reply

sharath prasad 
Oct 21, 2016
hello sir. can you please explain to me if and why the loadicator has maximum
permissible stress limits in harbour and at sea and also why the sea going condition
has more strict requirements than the harbour condition ?
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Mar 13, 2017
That is because in harbour there are minimum external forces acting on the ship.
Where as at sea the ship may be subjected to extreme wx conditions..
Reply

PAWAN 
Nov 18, 2016
IN LOADICATGOR what all parameter changes with change of density ?
Reply

Suraj 
Mar 12, 2017
sir why loadicator has harbour as well as sea condition.?
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Mar 13, 2017
As in harbour condition, there are minimum external forces acting on the ship, ship is
allowed to have more stresses while in harbour (for example during intermediate
stages of cargo operation).
Reply

nandkishore gitte 
Apr 24, 2017
Nice and in detail article .....help full for engineers to who are preparing for there COC
Reply

Rajeev Jassal 
Apr 30, 2017
Thanks Nand Kishore..
Reply

Anthony 
Dec 19, 2017
Good day Sir, Iam using MECCA loadcom onboard, but the function for calculating
constants doesnot show . could you kindly elaborate how to calculate the constants on
Mecca loadicator, as you have also shown screen shots of Mecca in your blog.
Reply

Siddharth Gaur 
Dec 27, 2017
Hi Sir can you please tell what is the affect of trim on a gz curve .
Reply

Kynan Noronha 
Jan 20, 2018
Good Day Capt Rajeev Just a small query .Wanted to know what is the general
allowed limit for SF & BM for tankers.And from which document can we find this
mentioned limit . Thank You
Reply

aeplglobe 
May 29, 2018
Thanks for sharing it href=” https://www.aeplglobe.com /safety-relief-
valves/”Leading LPG Vaporizer Manufacturers in India”
Reply

najma qureshi 
Jul 30, 2018
Great content. I would like to add on that it all depends on the calculation that is done
for an efficient work system. Thanks for sharing.
Reply
VIKRAMJIT SINGH 
Aug 7, 2018
Dear Sir, Please explain the difference between sea and harbour conditions of
loadicator.
Reply

Sajjad Modak 
Sep 14, 2018
Thanks Sir for the important topics you are covering in your blog. It take lot of
patience & hardwork indeed. Your blog is an digest for new comers & for those who
are already in sea service for years. As mentioned in comment above by concerned
sailor , we readers would be thankful to have your views on mentioned topic. Also
how MLC helps an seafarer when ashore i.e employer refusing to hire an seafarer for
not signing appraisal report by Master etc Thanks & Regards S M Modak
Reply

Giorgi Giorgi 
Dec 8, 2018
Capt Rajeev, thanks for very nicely written article. Can you please write article
regarding ASTM PM Table including use of table 6A ,6B , 54A ,54B , 24A , 24B and
case when we need to use function USER DEFINE
Reply

Antriksh Walia 
May 18, 2019
Dear Sir, I'm working on coastal cargo vessels less than 100m length without a
lodicator how can I calculate SF and BM stresses on ship during various loading
conditions. Kindly advise...
Reply

Vivek Marol 
Jul 19, 2019
Sir, ....Sea Condition....what's the reference value for this condition for a particular
ship in its loadicatir
Reply
an 
Nov 20, 2019
How to load a tanker if loadicator stopped working ??
Reply

Ahmed Alwan 
Feb 6, 2020
Dear Sir, Appreciate if you help me to understand fully the difference between Sea
and Harbor conditions and during anchorage for example winch condition better to
use? for LNG gas tankers, when we will get the maximum bending moment BM ? in
which stage of loading? and the location of the BM? During loading , is the ship
hogging or sagging and why?
Reply

AMAR ANAND 
Apr 26, 2020
Amazing article sir....
Reply

Alok Kumar 
Aug 3, 2020
Sir how much maximum SF, BM and TM is allowed. Officially. Which will not be any
problem with any authority.
Reply

Phan Hung Tan 

May 26, 2021
Dear Capt,can you help for test loading condition of the loadicator system by
quarterly by ship staff
Reply

Hieu Le 
Sep 1, 2021
https://www.myseatime.com/blog/detail/compliance-with-loadicator-testing-and-its-
records. you refer this link
Reply

Pratik 
Jun 3, 2021
Thanks for the above info. Sir, Can you please help me out in finding what is the
difference in calculation procedure of SF & BM ( what parameters are changed) while
in Sea- going conditions & while in Harbour condition ?
Reply

joham william 
Jan 17, 2022
FIX THESE 6 COMMON COMPUTER PROBLEMS EFFICIENTLY
Reply

Anish 
May 19, 2022
Can you please post how to do damage stability calculations on a Loadicator?
Reply

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