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The SeaSoft Tanker Models have been developed to provide "typical" tanker properties in order that preliminary mooring and motion programs for this class of vessel not be held hostage by a lack of available data. The Models provide a complete set of physically reasonable and internally consistent program parameters required for execution of SeaSoft programs from an absolute minimum of information about the "target" tanker. The Models comprise a comprehensive and complex synthesis of (i) empirical data on specific vessels from a wide variety of sources, (ii) publicly available summaries of "average tanker" characteristics and (iii) theoretical modeling.
The notion of "internal consistency" is important and highlights a fundamental reason for the development of the Models. In gathering information for a dynamical model of a vessel, it is common that some subset of the required information is not readily available. Often the missing data is hydrostatic in nature, since detailed hydrostatic curves are not generally included in widely-disseminated vessel information summaries. Detailed information on mass distribution is also often lacking. In these cases, the missing information must be estimated, sometimes by engineers who are not naval architects and may not be well-versed in sound estimation procedures for these quantities. As a result the estimates, particularly hydrostatic estimates, may be internally inconsistent. For example, the waterplane area obtained directly from a published "Tons Per Inch" value may be physically inconsistent with a longitudinal metacentric height (KML) obtained by faulty or otherwise inadequate estimation procedures. Such internal inconsistencies may have an effect on output quality that is unexpectedly detrimental. That is, a slightly incorrect but internally consistent set of physical properties for a target tanker may in some cases be more representative than a set with a single erroneous physical property which is physically inconsistent with other input data. By proper use of SeaSoft modeling tools, these kinds of internal inconsistencies can be avoided.
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