Is Bilge Keel Necessary?

Most ships are fitted with some form of bilge keel, the prime function of which is to help damp the rolling motion of the vessel. Other relatively minor advantages of the bilge keel are protection for the bilge on grounding, and increased longitudinal strength at the bilge.

What is the importance of a bilge keel?

A bilge keel is a nautical device used to reduce a ship's tendency to roll. Bilge keels are employed in pairs (one for each side of the ship). A ship may have more than one bilge keel per side, but this is rare. Bilge keels increase hydrodynamic resistance to rolling, making the ship roll less.

Is the keel important?

As the spine functions to keep our backbone upright by linking and supporting our body, the keel is the primary structural member and backbone of the vessel which runs along the centreline of the bottom plate around which the hull of the ship is built. ...