In this paper the historical developments in ship buoyancy, stability, and subdivision since the milestone formulation of the basic law of buoyancy and stability by Archimedes are reviewed. Emphasis is herein placed on the development of the international regulatory framework governing intact and damage ship stability and safety over the last 23 centuries, in line with the continuous progress in the design of ships as a most efficient transportation means and the high expectations of society regarding the safety of lives of people onboard and of the marine environment. Latest regulatory developments lead to proactive risk- and performance-based stability and safety provisions on the basis of modern scientific developments, displacing more and more traditional reactive semi-empirical deterministic stability standards.
NowackiH., Archimedes and ship stability. In Proceedings of the Euro-Conference on Passenger ship design, operation and safety, Anissaras-Chersonissos, Crete, 2001, reprinted in extended version as Preprint 198, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany, March 2002.
2.
NowackiH., Developments in fluid mechanics theory and ship design before Trafalgar. Preprint 308, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, Germany, 2006, available from www.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/Preprints/P308.PDF.
3.
StevinS., The principal works of Simon Stevin,, 5 vols (Ed. DijksterhuisE. J.), 1955 (Swets and Zeitlinger, Amsterdam.
4.
FrancescuttoA., ‘Intact ship stability — the way ahead. Mar. Technol., 2004, 41, 31–37.
5.
FrancescuttoA., Intact stability of ships: recent developments and trends. In Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Practical design of ships and other floating structures (PRADS 2007), Houston, Texas, USA, 1—5 October 2007, vol. 1, pp. 487–496 (American Bureau of Shipping, Houston).
6.
PapanikolaouA., Review of damage stability of ships — recent developments and trends. In Proceedings of the 10th International Symposium on Practical design of ships and other floating structures (PRADS 2007), Houston, Texas, USA, 1—5 October 2007, 497–509 (American Bureau of Shipping, Houston).
7.
FrancescuttoA.PapanikolaouA. D., Floatability and stability of ships: 23 centuries after Archimedes. In The genius of Archimedes - 23 centuries of influence on mathematics, science and engineering, History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol. 11, 2010, pp. 277–288 (Springer, Berlin).
8.
FroudeW., On the rolling of ships. Trans. INA1861, 2, 180–229.
9.
KrylovA., A general theory of the oscillations of a ship on waves. Trans. INA, 1898, 40, 135–196.
10.
SmithW. E., Hogging and sagging strains in a sea way as influenced by wave structure. Trans. INA, 1883, 24, 136–153.
11.
BoninoM., ‘Appunti sull'opera di Archimede nei riguardi dell'architettura navale.’Archaeol. Marit. Mediterranea (Int. J. Underwater Archaeol.), 2009, 6KB6328, 20.
12.
RussoL., The forgotten revolution: how science was born in 300 BC and why it had to be reborn, 2004 (Springer, Berlin).
13.
MoseleyH., On the dynamical stability and on the oscillations of floating bodies. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., 1850, 140, 609–643.
14.
Guidance to the master for avoiding dangerous situations in following and quartering seas. IMO MSC/Circular 707, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1995.
15.
Code on intact stability for all types of ships covered by IMO instruments. IMO Resolution A.749(18), International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1995.
16.
Recommendation on intact stability for passenger and cargo ships under 100 metres in length. IMCO Resolution A.167(ES.IV), Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, London, UK, 1968.
17.
Recommendation on a severe wind and rolling criterion (weather criterion) for the intact stability of passenger and cargo ships of 24 metres in length and over. IMO Resolution A.562(14), International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1985.
18.
Interim guidelines for alternative assessment of Weather Criterion. IMO MSC.1/Circular 1200, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2006.
19.
Explanatory notes to the interim guidelines for alternative assessment of the Weather Criterion. IMO MSC.1/Circular 1227, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2007.
20.
Revised guidance to the master for avoiding dangerous situations in adverse weather and sea conditions. IMO MSC.1/Circular 1228, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2007.
21.
Framework for the development of new generation criteria for intact stability, submitted by Japan, the Netherlands and the USA. IMO SLF50/4/4, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2007.
22.
Development of new generation intact stability criteria — Report of the Working Group (Part 1). IMO SLF52/WP.1, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, January 2010.
23.
FrancescuttoA.UmedaN., Current status of new generation intact stability criteria development. In Proceedings of the 11th International Ship Stability Workshop, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 21—23 June 2010, pp. 1–5 (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, Wageningen).
24.
BasslerC.BelenkyV.BulianG.FrancescuttoA.SpyrouK.UmedaN., A review of available methods for application to second level vulnerability criteria. In Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Stability of ships and ocean vehicles (STAB 2009), (Ed. DegtyarevA. B.). Saint Petersburg, Russia, 22–26 June 2009, pp. 111–128 (Nestor-Historia).
25.
BulianG.FrancescuttoA., New generation intact stability criteria: assessing the vulnerability to parametric roll. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference of Ship and shipping research (NAV 2009), Messina, Italy, 26—27 November 2009, vol. I, pp. 135–144 (ATENA (Associazione Italiana di Tecnica Navale), Napoli).
26.
Stability in damage conditions. SOLAS 74 as amended, chapter II-1, Part B, Regulation 8, Consolidated Edition, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1997.
27.
Regional agreement on specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships, incl. Appendix on equivalent model test method. SOLAS 95, Resolution 14 of the Conference of Contracting Governments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974 adopted on 29 November 1995, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1995.
28.
Agreement concerning specific stability requirements for ro-ro passenger ships undertaking regular scheduled international voyages between or to or from designated ports in north west Europe and the Baltic Sea. IMO Circular Letter 1891, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 29 April 1996.
29.
VassalosD.PapanikolaouA., ‘Stockholm Agreement — past, present and future', Part I.’Mar. Technol., 2002, 39(3), 137–158. Part II. Mar. Technol., 2002, 39(4), 199–200.
30.
PapanikolaouA., Design and safety of ro-ro passenger ships (in German). In Handbuch der Werften, Vol. XXVI, 2002 (Schiffahrts-Verlag HANSA, Hamburg).
31.
PapanikolaouA, Critical review and practical implications of the new SOLAS regulations pertaining to the damage stability of ro-ro passenger vessels. In Proceedings of the Sixth Conference on The stability of ships and ocean structures (STAB ′97), Varna, Bulgaria, 22—27 September 1997, pp. 63–80.
32.
WendelK., Die Wahrscheinlichkeit des Überstehens von Verletzungen. Schiffstechnik1960, 36(7), 47–61.
33.
NEREUS Project, First principles design for damage resistance against capsizing, European Commission, DG XII-BRITE, Contract G3RD-CT-1999-00029, 2000—2003.
34.
ROROPROB Project, Probabilistic rules-based optimal design of ro-ro passenger ships, European Commission, DG XII-BRITE, Contract G3RD-CT-1999-00030, 2000—2003.
35.
SAFEDOR, Design, operation and regulation for safety, Integrated Project 516278 in the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission, 2005—2009, available from http://www.safedor.org.
36.
Regulations on subdivision and stability of passenger ships as an equivalent to Part B of chapter II of the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1960. IMCO Resolution A.265(VIII), Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization, London, UK, 1974.
37.
Cargo ships constructed on or after February 1992. SOLAS 74 as amended, chapter II-1, Part B-1, Regulation 25, Consolidated Edition, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1997.
38.
PedersenP., Collision and grounding mechanics. In Proceedings of the West European Conference of Maritime Technology Societies (WEMT ′95), 1995, pp. 125–157 (Danish Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, Copenhagen).
39.
Report to the Maritime Safety Committee. IMO SLF 43/16, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2000.
40.
Report to the Maritime Safety Committee — summary of decisions. IMO SLF 46/16, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2003.
41.
Report to the Maritime Safety Committee — summary of decisions. IMO SLF 47/17, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2004.
42.
HARDER Project, Harmonization of rules and design rationale. European Commission, DG XII-BRITE, Contract G3RD-CT-1999-00028, 2000—2003.
43.
Report to the Maritime Safety Committee — 5 Development of Revised SOLAS chapter II-1 Parts A, B and B-1, IMO SLF 41/18, International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 1998.
PapanikolaouA.EliopoulouE., On the development of the new harmonised damage stability regulations for dry cargo and passenger ships. J. Reliability Engng System Safety, 2008, 93, 1305–1316.
46.
GOAL DS, Goal-based damaged stability, 7th Framework Programme Theme {FP7-SST-2008-RTD-1}, European Commission, Grant Agreement 233876, 2009, available from http://www.goalds.org.
47.
PapanikolaouA.MainsC.RusaasS.SzalekR.TsakalakisN.VassalosD.ZaraphonitisG., Goal-based damaged stability. In Proceedings of the 11th International Ship Stability Workshop, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 21—23 June 2010, pp. 1–12 (Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, Wageningen).
48.
Adoption of amendments to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, 1974, as amended, adopted 8th December 2006 (SOLAS 2009). IMO MSC.216(82), International Maritime Organization, London, UK, 2006.
49.
NetzR.NoelW., The story of the amazing discovery of Archimedes' lost works, Archimedes, The Palimsest Project, 2010, available from www.archimedespalimpsest.org.
50.
NowackiH., Leonhard Euler and the theory of ships. J. Ship Res.2008, 52(4), 274–290.
51.
NowackiH.FerreiroL. D., Historical roots of the theory of hydrostatic stability of ships. In Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference on The stability of ships and ocean vehicles (STAB 2003), Madrid, Spain, September 2003; also Preprint 237, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science, Berlin, 2003.
52.
FerreiroL. D., Ships and science: the birth of naval architecture in the scientific revolution 1600—1800, 2007 (MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts).
