Ing. Colin Bonnici received the RINA Jeom Kee Paik Prize for the best paper published in the International Journal of Maritime Engineering 2018 by an author aged 35 or under, on the subject of ship structures.
In摹. Colin Bonnici was awarded the Jeom Kee Paik Prize by the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, RINA, UK following the journal publication titled: 'Analysis of a WWII T2-Tanker using a Virtual 3D Model and Contemporary Criteria', as part of his research whilst attaining his Masters in Engineering by Research, supervised by Prof. In摹. Claire De Marco and co-supervised by Prof. In摹. Robert Ghirlando.
The paper analysed the factors which kept the T2-tanker S.S. Ohio afloat, as part of the Santa Marija Convoy during WWII. Historical literature states that the tanker was heavily damaged and provides three main hypotheses as to why she did not sink under heavy attack. Namely: the use of water pumps which partially restored buoyancy, the cargo density and a strong fully welded hull. A stability, floodable length and residual strength analysis was conducted to confirm or disprove the hypotheses.
The stability analysis indicated that the vessel remained stable despite the sustained damage, whilst the floodable length analysis revealed that additional portable water pumps brought on-board the crippled tanker partially restored buoyancy, otherwise it was highly probable that the vessel would have sunk despite her welded structure and cargo on-board. The residual strength assessment of the damaged hull indicated that the S.S. Ohio was at risk of collapse. However, Simple Beam Theory indicated that when least damaged, large bending moments were exerted on the ship鈥檚 midship but diminished with further damage, providing evidence on how the S.S. Ohio remained intact.
A challenge was to draw a comparison between the results and applicable criteria. At the time the S.S Ohio was built, criteria only governed the ship鈥檚 scantlings and did not focus on stability, floodable length and residual strength. The research provided engineering evidence on how the S.S. Ohio survived, whilst contemporary criteria were identified to assess the tanker鈥檚 characteristics, shedding light on this 75 year old mystery.
