Pivot Point Location - Ship Handling

Pivot point location along the ship when making headway / stern way - the instantaneous point of zero transverse velocity that governs tug-handling.

Pivot pointHandlingManoeuvring

Loading calculator…

This calculator requires JavaScript to compute its result. The formula, symbols, and regulatory sources are shown in the Formula section below.

Formula, assumptions, and limits

x_{pivot} \approx 0.25 L_{PP} \ \text{(ahead)}; \ 0.75 L_{PP} \ \text{(astern)}

Symbol	Meaning	Unit
$L_{PP}$	Length between perpendiculars	m

Source: Bowditch Vol.1 Ch.32 - Ship Handling

Pivot point location along the ship when making headway / stern way - the instantaneous point of zero transverse velocity that governs tug-handling.