Your near-coastal coaster (LOA 48m, 400 GT) grounds and suffers a breach in the forward cargo hold. Water is flooding in. Describe your immediate stability and damage control response.

A. DAMAGE CONTROL response to flooding in forward cargo hold: (1) IMMEDIATE ASSESSMENT: call all hands; sound all tanks and voids adjacent to the flooded compartment (using sounding rods or electronic soundings — every minute if possible); check the bilge alarm panels; have crew feel and look for water ingress in adjacent compartments; (2) STABILITY ASSESSMENT: as the forward hold floods, the vessel will: (a) trim by the bow (forward draught increases as weight increases forward); (b) lose buoyancy (flooded volume no longer contributes to buoyancy); (c) the point of buoyancy (B) shifts forward; (d) GM may DECREASE as freeboard reduces and wall-sided effect becomes significant; (3) DAMAGE CONTROL ACTIONS: (a) Close all watertight doors and hatches immediately — contain flooding; (b) Start bilge pumps on the damaged hold — can the pump rate exceed the inflow rate? If so, pump down; (c) If not, consider counterflood (ballasting stern tanks to improve trim and reduce bow flooding rate); (d) Consider portable pump supplement; (4) ASSESS RESERVE BUOYANCY: if the hold floods fully, will the vessel remain afloat? Check the damage stability information in the vessel's stability booklet or damage control plan; (5) IF IN DOUBT ABOUT SURVIVABILITY: begin supervised abandon ship preparation; do NOT wait until the vessel is going under; (6) GROUNDING: if still on the ground, assess whether refloating will cause the vessel to sink free of the ground.

B. Open all watertight doors to allow water to distribute evenly throughout the vessel. This prevents excessive trim and maintains stability.

C. Immediately ballast the forward peak and foretank to counteract the flooding and restore trim. This is the primary damage control action.

D. Flooding in one compartment is always survivable as long as the other compartments are intact. Continue the voyage and report to the coast guard at the next port.

A. ANGLE OF LOLL: this is the classic presentation of negative GM (unstable equilibrium). Cause: the vessel's metacentric height (GM) has become negative — the metacentre (M) is now BELOW the centre of gravity (G). At 0° upright, the vessel has no restoring moment — but as she heels, the waterplane area shifts, moving B outward until a point of neutral equilibrium is found: this is the angle of loll (typically 5°-20°). The vessel "rests" here rather than returning upright. Common causes on a small coastal vessel: (1) Free surface effect from flooded compartments, slack tanks, or water in bilges; (2) Topside icing (raised G); (3) Cargo shift or absorption of water by deck cargo (timber); (4) Consumption of fuel and water from the bottom of tanks without compensating. IDENTIFICATION test: if you push the vessel toward the loll (to starboard) she returns to the loll angle; if you force her past the loll, the GZ curve at higher angles may generate restoring force — she "snaps" back to the loll. EMERGENCY ACTIONS: (1) DO NOT immediately ballast the high side (port) — if she rolls through the loll onto the other side, she may capsize; (2) Check and pump out bilges; (3) Fill double bottom ballast tanks SLOWLY starting with those on the LOW side (starboard) to raise M; (4) Reduce topweight; (5) Call master (if OOW); (6) Alert crew and consider reducing speed.

B. An 8° list to starboard means a weight has shifted to starboard — immediately correct by ballasting the port side to bring her upright, then investigate the cause.

C. A list that stays fixed at 8° is a permanent heel caused by off-centre loading. Correct it by shifting cargo from the starboard side to port before continuing.

D. A vessel that doesn't return from a list has insufficient GM. Calculate a righting lever at 8° using the GZ curve and if positive, the vessel is stable enough to continue.

A. IS CODE 2008 (International Code on Intact Stability) — criteria for cargo ships: the IS Code provides mandatory stability criteria for vessels under the 2008 International Code on Intact Stability (made mandatory under SOLAS II-1 and Load Lines). Minimum criteria: (1) AREA under GZ curve from 0° to 30° must be not less than 0.055 metre-radians; (2) Area from 0° to 40° (or flooding angle, whichever is less) not less than 0.09 metre-radians; (3) Area between 30° and 40° (or flooding angle) not less than 0.03 metre-radians; (4) GZ at 30° or greater must be not less than 0.20m; (5) Maximum GZ must occur at an angle of heel not less than 25°; (6) Initial GM (GM_0) must not be less than 0.15m. In this scenario: GM of 0.22m exceeds the minimum 0.15m — it satisfies this criterion. HOWEVER: GM alone does not determine acceptability — you must check ALL the criteria listed above (particularly the GZ curve at 30° and the area criteria). A vessel can have a positive GM but still fail the area criteria if the GZ curve drops too early. The stability booklet must be consulted to verify the full GZ curve for the proposed loading condition.

B. A GM of 0.22m is inadequate — the minimum for any vessel is 0.30m. Loading in this condition is not permitted under MCA regulations.

C. GM is the only stability criterion — a positive GM of any magnitude above zero is sufficient for a vessel to be considered stable and safe to sail.

D. The 0.22m GM is acceptable for a near-coastal voyage but would not meet the standards for an ocean passage. Near-coastal vessels have lower stability requirements.