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Freakish sea index and sea states during ship accidents

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Abstract

Sea states during seven marine accidents near Japan reported in the media were analyzed using a third-generation wave model. Based on the estimated evolution of the directional wave spectrum, a narrowing of the directional spectrum was suggested for five cases. Based on earlier studies in laboratory tanks, the narrowing of the directional spectrum may be associated with increased probability of freak waves at the time of the accident. A diagram mapping the frequency bandwidth and directional spread proved useful as a diagnostic tool. This freakish sea index was compared against recently conducted ocean wave observations. The accident causes are discussed in the context of slamming, green sea loading, loss of stability, broaching and other possibilities.

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Abbreviations

H :

Wave height

H s :

Significant wave height

H max :

Maximum wave height

a :

(\( = H/2 \)) wave amplitude

k:

\( \left( { = {{2\pi } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{2\pi } {\lambda_{m} }}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} {\lambda_{m} }}} \right) \) wave number

ak :

Steepness

\( \delta f \) :

Frequency bandwidth

\( f_{0} \) :

Peak frequency

AI :

(\( = H_{\max } /H_{s} \)) abnormality index

BFI :

Benjamin-Feir Index

\( BFI_{eff} \) :

Effective BFI

\( \varepsilon_{eff} \) :

Effective steepness (ak times reduction factor along resonance loci)

\( \left( {\delta k,\delta \,l} \right) \) :

Perturbation wave number (derived from the directional spectrum)

\( F\left( {\sigma ,\theta } \right) \) :

Wave spectrum

\( \sigma \) :

(\( = {{2\pi } \mathord{\left/ {\vphantom {{2\pi } f}} \right. \kern-\nulldelimiterspace} f} \)) angular frequency

\( \theta \) :

Wave direction

\( Q_{p} \) :

Goda’s parameter

\( m_{0} \) :

Total energy

\( G(\theta ;f) \) :

Directional spreading function

\( K(\theta ;f) \) :

Normalized directional spreading function s.t. \( \max \left[ {K(\theta ;f)} \right] = 1 \)

\( A \) :

Integral width defined as \( A \cdot K(\theta ;f) \equiv G(\theta ;f) \)

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Acknowledgments

We thank Kazuhisa In who has set up the Japan regional wave model. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This work was supported by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ocean Technology Policy and Environment, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwano-ha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan

    Takuji Waseda

  2. Research Institute for Global Change, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, 3173-25 Showa-machi, Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa, 236-0001, Japan

    Hitoshi Tamura

  3. Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, 4-6-1 Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan

    Takeshi Kinoshita

Authors
  1. Takuji Waseda
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  2. Hitoshi Tamura
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Correspondence to Takuji Waseda.

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Waseda, T., Tamura, H. & Kinoshita, T. Freakish sea index and sea states during ship accidents. J Mar Sci Technol 17, 305–314 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-012-0171-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00773-012-0171-4

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