An experimental investigation into the influence of the damage openings on ship response

tShip motions after damage are difficult to evaluate since they are affected by complex phenomenaregarding fluid and structures interactions. The possibility to better understand how ship behavior indamage is influenced by these phenomena is important for improving ship safety, especially for passengervessel.In this paper an experimental campaign is carried out on a passenger ferry hull, to show the effectsof the water dynamics across damage openings on ship motions. Novel aspects of this research includethe study of the effects of the damage position on the ship roll response. The study is carried out for stillwater and for beam regular waves at zero speed.Results from the experiments carried out underline that the roll behavior of a damaged ship is affectedby the position of damage opening and not only by its size. Assuming the same final equilibrium conditionsafter flooding but characterized by different damage openings it is possible to observe how motions RAOsand roll decay characteristics modify according to the opening locations.