Chapter 1 The Marine Environment

1.1 The Ship in the Marine Environment

A ship or any ocean vehicle or structure is exposed to the marine environment. It is a complicated and often hostile environment. Environmental forces at sea come from wind, seaway, current, tidal waves, and waves from earthquakes (tsunamis). From the practical point of view, the seafarer has to cope with wind and seaway. Generally, seaway is generated by the wind at the sea surface.

The occurrence and magnitude of wind and seaway depend on the sea area and on the time of the year. Wind and seaway vary randomly and can be described by statistical methods based on probability theory. In detail, we look at the rate of occurrence, the magnitude, and the time variations of ...

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