ABSTRACT
The ship operability analysis is an important step in the ship design process. It provides an estimate of the percentage of time the ship may be inoperable. The outcomes of the operability analysis depend on the seakeeping responses and on the operability limiting criteria, such as the frequency of occurrence of slams, green water, propeller emergence, pitch, vertical acceleration in the forward perpendicular, roll angle, and motion sickness criteria. The limiting value for each criterion represents a number that could be interpreted differently in practice when operating a vessel in foul weather. Therefore, this paper gives a critical overview of the limiting criteria used so far in the operability study of passenger ships in the Adriatic Sea. The research is carried out through a survey that involved experienced seafarers using a questionnaire developed for this purpose. The results of the survey will make it possible to assess the credibility of the commonly used operability criteria limits and to improve them, which could have a substantial impact in the different stages of the ship design.
