Real-time detection method on draft of inland departure ships

For ensuring the safety of inland river shipping and avoiding super draft, it is of significance to propose a method to detect draft of inland departure ship. The real-time detection method on draft of inland departure ship is proposed, the measurement principle of ship draft is deeply analyzed, and the small scale experiment has been carried out. Experimental results show that as ship speed inicreases, the ship draft is of gradually declining tendency, and the measurement error is of gradually increasing tendency, the minium error is -4.2%, the maximum error is -11.4%. The results prove the possibility of this method, and also indicate that ship speed has large influence on measured ship draft. © (2012) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.