The bank effect (channel effect, bank suction, bank cushion, stern suction, ship-bank interaction) is the tendency of the

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. O ...

of a

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

to swing toward the near bank when operating in a river or constricted

waterway A waterway is any Navigability, navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is ...

Paywall A paywall is a method of restricting access to content (media), content, with a purchase or a subscription business model, paid subscription, especially news. Beginning in the mid-2010s, newspapers started implementing paywalls on their website ...

Phenomenon

The asymmetric flow around a ship induced by the vicinity of banks causes pressure differences (

Bernoulli's principle Bernoulli's principle is a key concept in fluid dynamics that relates pressure, speed and height. For example, for a fluid flowing horizontally Bernoulli's principle states that an increase in the speed occurs simultaneously with a decrease i ...

) between port and starboard sides. As a result, a lateral force will act on the ship, mostly directed towards the closest bank, as well as a

yawing moment Adverse yaw is the natural and undesirable tendency for an aircraft to yaw in the opposite direction of a roll. It is caused by the difference in lift and drag of each wing. The effect can be greatly minimized with ailerons deliberately designed ...

pushing her bow towards the centre of the waterway. The

squat effect The squat effect is the hydrodynamic phenomenon by which a vessel moving through shallow water creates an area of reduced pressure that causes the ship to increase its draft (alternatively decrease the underkeel clearance of the vessel in marin ...

increases due to the decreased blockage. This phenomenon depends on many parameters, such as bank shape, water depth, ship-bank distance, ship properties, ship speed and propeller action. A reliable estimation of bank effects is important for determining the limiting conditions in which a ship can safely navigate a waterway.

Examples

It was cited as a possible cause of the

2021 Suez Canal obstruction The Suez Canal was blocked for six days from 23 to 29 March 2021 by the , a container ship that had run aground in the canal. The , 224,000-ton, vessel was buffeted by strong winds on the morning of 23 March, and ended up wedged across the w ...

by the cargo ship ''

Ever Given ''Ever Given'' () is one of the List of largest container ships, largest container ships in the world. The ship is owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha (a ship-owning and leasing subsidiary of the large Japanese shipbuilding company Imabari Shipbuilding) ...

''.

References

External links

Model tests demonstrating the bank effect
for ''International Conference on Ship Manoeuvring in Shallow and Confined Water'' (MASHCON) at ''

Ghent University Ghent University (, abbreviated as UGent) is a Public university, public research university located in Ghent, in the East Flanders province of Belgium. Located in Flanders, Ghent University is the second largest Belgian university, consisting o ...

'' January 2010
Bank Effects
at ''Knowledge Centre, Manoeuvring in Shallow and Confined Water''

''MASHCON'' 1
: Bank Effects

: Ship to Ship Interaction

: Lock effects

: Ship Bottom Interaction

: waves, wind and current

: Port Manoeuvres (May 2022) Nautical terminology Marine propulsion {{water-transport-stub

Phenomenon

Examples

See also

References

External links