Stability

We took over the material barge H-406 with the Peregrino topside on it from the tug Sea Leopard yesterday. You may wonder why this barge is able to stay afloat with a high and heavy platform on her deck. And mind you; the platform alone without all the seafastening weighs around 6500 metric tons. At home, if I don't step aboard exactly in the middle of a rowing boat, it will almost capsize, so how is it possible that this barge doesn't capsize? These problems and calculations are called stability. Stability is all about restoring forces. If you try to pull this barge over, it will respond with a restoring force to get it upright again. The main part of this restoring force comes from counterballast in the tanks deep down in the barge, but also from her shape. Make yourself a surfboard of 50 meter by 10 centimeter, you will not be able to stand on it without stability problems. Now make a board of 5 meter by 1 meter, same area, but now you can stand on it with your whole family. Basicly that's what you see here, a barge with a wide beam and with plenty stability.