1. Introductions – Rich Sonnenschein welcomed
the members in attendance, and those participating via telecom. Dr.
Bruce Nerling contacted Rich Sonnenschein, to inform the Panel of his
retirement from the Naval Academy and formal resignation from Panel
SD-3; the Panel wishes Bruce Nerling all the best in his retirement.
Rich Sonnenschein was also informed that LCDR Jason Smith has taken a
new position locally with the Coast Guard, and been replaced on the
Stability Panel with LT Sean Peterson. There were no corrections to
the minutes from the Panel’s previous meeting, held on May 28, 2009.
2. SLF-52 Developments – Bill Peters reviewed major SOLAS and SLF plans and activities:
SOLAS
– Next SLF meeting is set for January 2010. The new subdivision and
damage rules entered into force on January 1, 2009. An intersessional
correspondence group is investigating whether there are any “gaps”,
concerning RO/PAX ships with large, open holds.
New Generation
Intact Stability Criteria – The intersessional correspondence group has
submitted Part 2, addressing four ship vulnerability criteria, based on
stability failure modes. The next phase, concerning procedures for
direct assessment (model test), is scheduled to be completed by
mid-October 2009.
Guidance for the Safety of Fishing Vessels <12
m in Length, and Undecked at any Length – These voluntary standards are
expected to be approved in 2010.
Adoption of 1993 Torremolinos
Protocol – In efforts to help advance this protocol, questionnaires
have been sent to nations with substantial fleets of fishing vessels
greater than 24 m in length.
Passenger Ships – Ongoing issues
include time-dependent survival (“time to flood”), return-to-port
criteria, and the need for guidelines on watertight doors normally left
open.
Tonnage Convention Update – Amendments to the 1969 tonnage
rules are needed in order to apply the tonnage rules in a uniform
manner to ship types which were rare or non-existent when the
Convention was adopted.
Subdivision for General Cargo Ships – This
new set of criteria applies to some ships, not covered by the 2009
probabilistic damage rules.
3. Dynamic Stability Task Group
(DSTG) – DSTG coordinator Chris Bassler discussed recent and future
planned DSTG activities:
• The group’s seventh meeting took place on the morning of August 6, 2009.
•
The DSTG will lead a T&R Session and Presentation during the SNAME
Annual Meeting in October 2009; the group’s efforts are being
spearheaded by nine technical teams.
• Next two DSTG meeting are
scheduled for the morning of September 3 [later rescheduled], at
NSWCCD, in Bethesda, and at the SNAME Annual Meeting on the afternoon
of Wednesday, October 21.
4. Stab 10 Conference Highlights –
Chris Bassler discussed the June 2009 STAB 10 Conference in St.
Petersburg, Russia, which he attended in June. Impressively, out of a
total of 85 papers presented, DSTG members were involved in 20. STAB,
an international standing committee, has workshops scheduled for 2010
at Marin and 2011 at NSWCCD, and in 2012, a conference in Athens,
Greece.
5. Review of Stability-Related PNA Draft Chapters –
• Chapters 1 (Ship Geometry) and 2 (Intact Stability) have gone to publication and are available on the SNAME web.
•
Rob Tagg is revising the appendix to Chapter 3 (Damage Stability) per
the new SOLAS rules; US Navy damage stability criteria, furnished by
Tapan Mazumdar, et al, will also be incorporated. Hopes are for a
final draft by September 2009, and publication by the end of 2009.
Action: Tapan Mazumdar will forward a copy of the approved Navy Damage
Stability Criteria portion to Rob Tagg. Chapter 3 will be published
alone.
6. Panel O-49, Small Working Vessels Operations & Safety Activities –
• [Nothing to report]
7. Panel SD-3 and SNAME Web Page developments -
•
Jane Louie discussed the ongoing progress with SNAME’s new web site.
Initially, this will include “group” sites - for committee discussions
- and “micro” sites – to handle files of committee interest. More
files have been added to the Stability Panel’s microsite, which can be
accessed at
http://www.sname.org/SNAME/SD3Stability/Home/Default.aspx.8. Proposed Stability Guidance for Small Craft Designers -
•
Chris Barry prepared a brief write-up (see attachment, below) on the
background and purpose of the proposed stability guide, which could
increase SNAME’s presence in the small craft community.
• A
major source for the evaluation of small craft stability, ISO 12217,
presents copyright issues to overcome. New Australian rules for small
craft stability are also to be considered.
• Spreadsheets for the
stability analysis of small craft can be combined for an effective
training module, but their development entails complications –
particularly, in making the hydrostatic adjustments to account for trim
– which are more easily handled by computer software.
• The
high cost of user-friendly software, however, is a deterrent to its
potential use by small craft designers, who generally have very limited
training in ship stability, and limited resources for the purchase of
ship modeling and stability software at the going price.
• It
was suggested that vendors such as Rhino and others be contacted, to
explore possibly ways to reduce the software price, for training
purposes. One other concern: how much training of small craft designers
is required, in order to assure that they use the software properly?