General arrangement (GA)

The general arrangement is the top-level drawing that shows the layout of the whole ship: the disposition of cargo spaces, tanks, machinery, accommodation, and decks in profile and in plan for each deck. It is fixed early in basic design and governs almost everything downstream, capacity, stability, escape routes, and the structural and outfitting design that follows. Class, the owner, and flag review the GA against SOLAS subdivision, MARPOL tank arrangement, and tonnage rules before detailed design proceeds. Every later drawing, from the docking plan to the fire control plan, traces back to the GA, so a late change to it is expensive across the whole design.