Safer and More Efficient Ship Handling with the Pivot Point Concept

The concept of the pivot point of a turning ship has been in existence for more than two centuries. It was not, however, properly understood from the beginning, and thus some misconceptions developed. This in turn caused it to be viewed as something mystical, thus preventing ship handling from scientific approach. The concept is expounded in a fresh light, deriving an equation for the definition and others for the calculation of the pivot point location both in general and for specific examples in an idealized condition. The implications of the derived equations are discussed. The results of a verification experiment are presented, which proved centuries' of teachings and learnings to have been incorrect. A number of exercises for both steady and unsteady cases have been suggested for the training of the practitioners in the light of these new findings.