SQUAT ASSESSMENT FOR SAFE NAVIGATION OF RIVER NILE CRUISERS

In recent years a great deal of research efforts in ship hydromechanics have been devoted to practical navigation problems in moving larger ships safely into existing harbors and inland waterways. An area of particular concern is the prediction of ship squat in shallow or restricted waters at different speeds. Squat may cause grounding of the ship which result in severe damage to the ship, and consequently higher repair bills and off hire losses. River Nile cruisers are encountering squat every movement due to lacking water depth and stand up to grounding risk day after day. In this paper a series of simple but practical useful theoretical models concerning ship squat problems in shallow waterways are discussed. Luxor-Aswan is a selected waterway for the present study. In the course of this study, characteristics of Luxor-Aswan waterway and main feature of existing Nile cruisers are outlined. Finally, theoretical squat analysis of a candidate Nile cruiser has been presented. The results show the position and magnitude of maximum squat, grounding speed has been also identified. It has been found that masters awareness of squat phenomenon and its prediction for each specific vessel is of great concern for vessel safety. This work can be useful for ship designers, naval architects and naval officers, who have to be aware of squat effects, with a specific end goal to avoid any squat related accidents