Glossary
Terms & Glossaries of Shipping and Trading
Bending-moment
It is the result of vertical forces acting on a ship because of local differences between weight and buoyancy. The total of these forces should be zero; otherwise a change of draft will occur. At sea the bending moment will change as a result of wave impact which then periodically changes the buoyancy distribution.
Note: The maximum allowed bending moment of a vessel is restricted by the class bureau to certain limits, which are different under port and sea conditions.
