First Passage Theory for Ship Stability Analysis

The current ship stability criteria (set out in the IMO codes) were established mainly through statistical analysis of some maritime disaster data. These criteria, which are empirical and semi-empirical regulations, and which ignore the effects of ship motions and random waves, are clearly physically implausible. Thus, naval architects and marine engineers agree that these criteria should be modified by applying ship-wave hydrodynamic models, by describing the sea surface as a random field, and by analyzing the ship as a six-degree-of-freedom rigid body using stochastic dynamical systems theories.