Maritime Knowledge Base
Browse questions and answers across marine machinery, merchant navy careers, shipboard operations and maritime glossary terms.
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Marine Machinery
Troubleshooting guides for pumps, boilers, purifiers, compressors and auxiliary systems.
Merchant Navy Careers
Questions about joining the merchant navy, exams, cadetships, ranks and sea-time.
Maritime Glossary
Plain-English definitions of shipping, engine-room, navigation and regulatory terms.
Shipboard Operations
Practical Q&A for watchkeeping, safety, maintenance routines and onboard documentation.
Results for "Trim"
What is ballast water and why is it managed?
What ballast water is, why ships carry it, and why it is now exchanged or treated under the Ballast Water Management Convention.
Marine MachineryWhy won't two generators share load equally when running in parallel?
When paralleled generators fail to share load evenly, the fault lies in the governor and speed settings for active power, or the excitation for reactive power.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is a draught survey and how is cargo weight calculated?
A draught survey determines the weight of bulk cargo loaded or discharged by measuring the ship's draughts and calculating the change in its displacement.
Shipboard OperationsHow is ballast water managed and treated on board a ship?
Under the Ballast Water Management Convention, ships manage ballast water either by mid-ocean exchange or, increasingly, by treating it through an approved system before discharge.
Marine MachineryWhat is a governor on a marine engine and what does it do?
A governor automatically controls an engine's speed by adjusting the fuel supply to match the load, keeping the engine at the required revolutions or a generator at constant frequency.
Shipboard OperationsWhat is under keel clearance and why is it important?
Under keel clearance is the vertical gap between the lowest point of a ship's keel and the seabed — a safety margin that must be maintained to avoid grounding.
