7/9/23, 19:13 Why the bollard pull calculation method for a barge won’t work for a ship - TheNavalArch

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Why the bollard pull calculation method

for a barge won’t work for a ship
by Team TheNavalArch | May 20, 2019 | Marine Transportation, Towing | 2
comments

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7/9/23, 19:13 Why the bollard pull calculation method for a barge won’t work for a ship - TheNavalArch

In my working with the marine transportation industry for more than a decade now, I
have come across many different calculations for required bollard pull for both
barges and ships. The principles of the calculation are same, whether it is a ship, a

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barge or any other structure being towed (e.g., a rig). The environmental forces of
wind, wave and current on the structure need to be calculated, added up, and
factored for the towing efficiency to obtain the required bollard pull to tow the vessel.
Going by the above methodology, it would appear that there should be no difference
in the calculations for Barge or Ship. However, this is a common mistake which may
lead to selection of a tug which is either unfit or oversized for the vessel selected.
The simplest way to illustrate the differences is to breakdown the calculation steps of
bollard pull and analyze them. The calculation steps for Bollard Pull are detailed
below:

Step 1: Calculate the forces of the environment acting on the vessel. These forces
are: Current, Wind and Wave

Step 2: Factor the environmental force for the towing efficiency to get the required
bollard pull for towing the vessel.

The differences between a ship and a barge lie in the methods applied for calculating
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the environmental forces (Step 1).

Wind Force:
The wind force acts on the structure above the waterline of the vessel. The formula
for wind force calculation is straight forward, and it is the same for any vessel –
whether Barge or a Ship. The force is calculated as Pressure x Area, where Area is the
projected area of the vessel exposed to the wind.
The projected area will comprise of the area of the hull above the water plus the area
of superstructure/Cargo
In case of Barge, generally superstructure is non-existent or minimal, and cargo is the
contributor to windage area. However, in case of ships, there can be both cargo and
superstructure which contribute to the windage area. Generally, if the cargo and
superstructure are located quite apart along the length of the vessel, then it is
advisable to consider full windage area of both in calculations. However, if one is
shielded by other (say, if the superstructure in aft is shielded from wind by Cargo
located just forward of superstructure), then a shielding factor can be applied to
reduce the contribution of the shielded structure. For more on shielding factors,
please see DNVGL-RP-C205 (Aug 2017), 5.3.3 Shielding Effects.

Current Force:
Current force refers to the ‘drag’ force which the underwater body of the vessel
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experiences. This is caused by the ‘relative’ flow of current against the body of the
vessel. The drag depends on the underwater geometry of the vessel.
A Barge is generally a flat, box-type structure. Its bow can be flat, raked or spoon-
shaped. Flat structures will attract more drag compared to a more streamlined
structure like a ship-shaped vessel. A flat bow also attracts more drag than a raked or
curved bow. For a ship, the body is much more streamlined than the barge. Further,
if the bow is a bulbous bow, it helps in reducing the drag.
Thus, for the same dimensions, the Barge is expected to attract more drag compared
to a conventional ship-shaped vessel. Generally, the calculations for a Barge a more
straightforward, based on the Morison equation

2
F = ½ ρ x V x Cd x Projected Area
2
The term ½ ρ x V is the pressure created by water on the surface of the vessel.
Projected area is the sectional area of the vessel perpendicular to the direction of
flow. If the current direction is along the length of the vessel, then the midship
sectional area is the area to be used.
The term Cd is called the drag coefficient. This term is of huge significance, and it is
this term which determines how the geometry of the body will affect the drag force.
For a relatively flat body like a barge, Cd is expected to be higher, while for a
streamlined body like a ship, Cd will be much lower.
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For most barges which are flat faced, a conservative value for Cd can be taken to be
1.0 (which is the value our Bollard Pull calculator also uses). For barges of other
shapes, an established method like one described in OTC 3320 paper may be used.
For ships, the calculation of Cd is more complicated, and while it is also principally
based on Morison equation, the calculation has to be more elaborate and take into
account its geometric differences.
A method like ‘Holtrop-Mennen’ can be used to calculate the ‘Calm Water Resistance’
of the ship, which is the resistance which it experiences due only to current (with no
waves). The resistance includes terms like

Frictional resistance

Appendage Resistance

Wave making resistance

Bulbous bow resistance

Transom resistance
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We can see that in case of a ship, the calculation is more elaborate and pertains to
special geometrical considerations. In effect, for a barge of similar size, the current
force on a ship may be lesser due to its streamlined shape.

Added Wave Resistance:

As the vessel moves forward, these oncoming waves interact with the vessel’s body to
create resistance forces called ‘Added Wave Resistance’. These are external forces
created purely by the action of the sea against the vessel and are dictated by the
height of the waves the vessel encounters.
The effect they have on the vessel will be affected by the geometry of the vessel.
Something which we can infer is that a geometry with gentler and more streamlined
shape will attract less resistance compared to a flat geometry. A Barge is generally
box-shaped and has more flat surfaces compared to a ship which has gentler shape
and more curves. Thus, the added wave resistance too is expected to be lower for a
ship compared to a barge. This is evident is the formulae which are used for
calculating the added wave resistance. The DNV-RP-H-103 provides a formula for
estimating the added wave resistance based on the width of the vessel, wave height
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and shape of the bow. The formula is reproduced below from Section 7.2.6.4 of DNV-
RP-H-103

We can see that the reflection coefficient (R) is the distinguishing feature which
depends on the shape of the bow of the vessel. Obviously, for a ship shaped bow, the
Reflection coefficient is much less. Compared to a square face vessel of same breadth
in the same wave height, a ship shaped bow is expected to encounter only around
20% of the wave resistance on the square face.

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Conclusion:
Thus, we see that the approach to calculation of Bollard Pull for a ship and barge
have marked differences due to the differences in their geometrical shapes. If the
simplifications which are used for Barges (e.g., using a current drag coefficient of 1.0)
are used on ships without any critical evaluation of the ship’s geometry, the resulting
bollard pull can be highly overestimated, leading to the selection of a much oversized
tug than necessary to tow the ship and subsequent high costs of towing. High savings
can be ensured by taking time to study the ship’s geometry and doing a bollard pull
calculation which accounts for its geometry and follows the appropriate methods for
estimation of environmental forces.
Disclaimer: This post is not meant to be an authoritative writing on the topic presented.
thenavalarch bears no responsibility for any incidents or losses arising due to the use of
the information in this article in any operation. It is recommended to seek professional
advice before executing any activity which draws on information mentioned in this post.
All the figures, drawings and pictures are property of thenavalarch except where
indicated, and may not be copied or distributed without permission.

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Bollard Pull Calculations for Barge

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Excel Spreadsheet for Bollard Pull Calculations

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Bollard Pull Calculations for Ships

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This Excel sheet calculates the required Bollard Pull

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1. Calm Water Resistance: It is calculated using the
established Holtrop and Mennen formula 2. Wind
resistance: Based on Wind Height and Shape coefficients from ABS MODU rules,
and corrected … Continue reading

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Prem Shankar

Founder

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The author is the founder of www.thenavalarch.com, a website providing useful low-

cost software and other online resources for Naval Architects. A graduate in Naval
Architecture from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, he has worked on
the design, engineering, construction and installation of a variety of marine and
offshore structures, ranging from ships to offshore platforms and FPSO’s.
TheNavalArch is part of his endeavour to bring rich and low-cost online content for
the oil & gas and marine communities. The author can be contacted at
[email protected]

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Bollard Pull Calculations – Bollard Pull Calculations – Are you chartering a tug
an Introduction (Part I) an Introduction (Part II) bigger than necessary for
your Barge?
February 4, 2017 February 18, 2017
In "Marine In "Marine November 17, 2018
Transportation" Transportation" In "Marine
Transportation"

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2 Comments
harkar97 on February 22, 2023 at 1:42 am
This is a worthwhile explanation that will assist all those who are
involved with the towing of ships and barges. The differences in
existence are clearly pointed out. I hope that the author, in the near
future, will provide a more involved revision on this subject, as this
will be of benefit to all Naval Architects.
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With kind regards,

Eur Ing Harry Alexander Karanassos, CEng, FRINA

Reply

Team TheNavalArch on March 23, 2023 at 4:11 am

Hi Harry

Many thanks for your feedback. We will continue to delve

deeper into related topics. Thanks for your support

Reply

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