righting arms

Noun

righting arm (plural righting arms)

1. The horizontal distance between the center of mass of a tilted vessel and the vertical line connecting its center of buoyancy and its metacentre (conventionally taken as positive if the aforementioned line lies on the low side of the center of mass, and negative if the line lies on the high side of the center of mass), measuring the strength of the vessel's tendency (or lack thereof) to return to an upright orientation.
   • Figure 60 shows the downflooding angles for the downflooding points described above, plus the angle at which the edge of the freeboard deck would have been immersed (about 15°). The downflooding angles are superimposed on two righting arm curves. The upper curve is the righting arm for El Faro in...2017 December 12, National Transportation Safety Board, “1.12.10 Postaccident Analysis of Stability, Structures, and Sinking”, in Marine Accident Report: Sinking of US Cargo Vessel SS El Faro...