Universal Measurement of

Ships
Colin Cridland
IMSF
Gdansk, April 2008

Objectives

To propose new method(s) of measure that

universally equally to ALL sizes and types of
vessel allowing easy comparison (ie Like with
Like)
To highlight weaknesses with existing
measurements

Colin Cridland

Existing Types of Measure

TONNAGES
Dwt, Displacement, Lightweight
CAPACITIES
Liquid (m3), Liquid Gas (m3), Grain (m3), Ore
(m3), Bale (m3), TEUs, Lane Metres (m), Cars,
Trucks, Trailers, Passengers etc
DIMENSIONS
Length Overall (m), Length BP (m), Beam (m),
Draught (m), Depth (m) etc
HYBRIDS
GRT/GT, NRT/NT, SCNT, PCNT, CGT

Colin Cridland

Tonnages

Deadweight (dwt)
Maximum vessel can carry in tonnes by way of
cargo, stores, fuel, crew etc which is not
permanent part of structure of ship up to the
maximum summer load line.
Reasonable measurement for majority liquid or
dry bulk vessels as cargo component forming
close to 98% of dwt
Unrepresentative for majority of vessels
carrying low density cargoes like containers,
LNG, passengers, vehicles etc

Colin Cridland

Tonnages (continued)

Lightweight (lwt, ldt or lwdt)

Basically the weight of the ship itself with no
cargo, stores etc.
Used widely at the time vessels are negotiating
for scrap
Otherwise of little use as weight of steel is no
indication of vessel size with similar sizes
having huge tonnage variation due to type of
steel used.
Displacement
Basically the full weight of a fully laden ship
DISPLACEMENT = DWT plus LWT

Colin Cridland

Hybrid Measures

Gross Tonnage (GT) replaces (GRT)

An artificial tonnage measurement based on the
total volume of enclosed spaces
Calculated by taking the total capacity of
enclosed spaces in m3 (V) and multiplying by a
coefficient (K) calculated by 0.2+0.02 log 10V (e.g.
100,000 m3 x 0.3 becomes 30,000 GT and 200,000
m3 x 0.306 becomes 61,200 GT)
Better than dwt for comparing vessels with low
density cargoes within enclosed spaces with high
density cargoes
BUT useless for containerships with majority of
cargo outside enclosed spaces
AND Complicated, Meaningless, Unrepresentative

Colin Cridland

Hybrid Measures (cont)

Net Tonnage (NT) replaces (NRT)

An artificial tonnage measurement based on the
total volume of enclosed spaces dedicated to cargo
Calculated by formula:
NT = K V (4d/3D)2 + K (N + (N / 10))
2
c
3
1
2
K = as per K in GT, V = m3 enclosed cargo
2
c
space d = moulded draught amidships, D =
moulded depth amidships, N1 = no passengers
with not more than 8 berths N2 = no of other
passengers K3 = 1.25 ((GT+10,000)/10,000)
A Black Art
Even worse than GT!!
Too Complicated to be calculated by Shipyards

Colin Cridland

Capacities

Cubic Capacity (m3)

Liquid, Liquefied Gas, Grain, Ore, Bale
Units
Lane Metres Linear (cannot convert to m3)
No of passengers (cannot convert to m3)
No of vehicles (cannot convert to m3)
TEU (CAN convert to m3!)

Colin Cridland

Data Used

LRF PC Register
Stage 1 - All Cargo Ships 53,460 vessels BUT:
3,235 vessels with NO dwt (6%)
286 vessels with NO GT (0.5%)
6,324 vessels with NO NT (12%)
2,711 vessels with NO LOA (5%)
241 vessels with NO Beam (0.5%)
Tested relationship between dwt & GT, dwt & NT,
NT & GT, m3 and GT & NT ALL inconsistent

Colin Cridland

1st Universal Measure

Stage 2 - Selected vessels with Both LOA & LBP

Created LOA Size Categories (approx every 25m)
Created Pivot Tables for LOA/LBP values for every
LOA size range for every vessel type
Vessels with LOA/LBP values = 48,678 vessels
Use LOA/LBP ratios from Pivots to populate
previously blank LOAs
Result 52,488 vessels having BOTH LOA and
Beam.

Colin Cridland

Vessel Footprint = VFm2

LOA x BEAM = VFm2

VFm2 = Ship Footprint in square metres
VFm2 provides mechanism for measuring vessels
against port, waterway or drydocking space

Colin Cridland

VFm2 World Fleet by Type

50,000
45,000
40,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000

Colin Cridland

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0
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35,000

VFm2 World Fleet by Flag

40,000
35,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000

Colin Cridland

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0
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k VFm2

30,000

2nd Universal Measure

Stage 3 - Select only vessels with m3 capacity

measures or TEU (convert TEU to m3)
Certain ship types excluded (e.g. Passenger)
Use largest m3 or combine according to ship type
Select out vessels with NO dwt & Create dwt size
categories
Vessels with DWT AND m3 = 32,663
Created Pivot Tables for DWT/m3 values for every
DWT size range for every vessel type
Use DWT/m3 ratios from Pivots to populate previously
blank DWTs & m3 but EXCLUDING anomalous values
Result calculated Total Cargo m3 (TCm3) for 42,248
vessels!

Colin Cridland

TCm3 World Fleet by Type

500
450
400
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
Bulkers

Tankers

Container

General

MPP

Colin Cridland

RoRo

Vehicle

Key Types - dwt/m3

1.60
1.40

1.24

1.24

1.23

1.00
0.80

0.81

0.60

0.80

1.12

1.10

0.88
0.72
0.56

0.49

0.46

0.54

0.40
0.20

Colin Cridland

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0.00
bu
lk
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dwt/m3

1.20

Comparison of Measures

World Fleet by Key Type

45

35

39

38

40
33

GT
TCm3

36
33

31

33 32

30

DWT
VFm2

25

25
18

20

18
14

15
10

4 5 3

7
2 2 2 3

2 1 1 2

MPP

RoRo

1 1 2

0
Bulkers

Tankers

Container

General

Colin Cridland

Vehicle

TCm3 for RoRo? In Use!

WWL's owners order the world's largest RoRo
ships
2007-12-19
WWL's owners Wilh. Wilhelmsen ASA of Norway and Wallenius
Lines of Sweden have ordered four of the world's largest ro-ro
vessels from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI) Nagasaki yard in
Japan for delivery in 2011 and 2012.
The new ships will service Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and have a
carrying capacity of 138 000 cubic metres, close to 10% more than the
WW/OW partnership's most recent ro-ro carriers.

Colin Cridland

What Types Can Be

Measured?

VFm2 ALL TYPES!

TCm3 so far
Bitumen, bunker, LNG, LPG, chemical, oil tanker,
wine tanker, water tanker, fruit juice
Bulker, ore carrier, OBO, Ore/Oil, open hatch, chip
carrier, cement
Containership, conbulker
RoRo, PCC, PCTC, Ro-Lo, Ro-Ro/Other
General cargo, MPP, Reefer, Ref Fish
Heavy Lift, Livestock
FPSO, FSO, Passenger, Cruise, Non Cargo NOT
YET!

Colin Cridland

Universal Measure? its a

Start!

THANK YOU!

Colin Cridland