WRONG WAY OF DRAWING SWINGING CIRCLE

1) Vessel dropping anchor in posn. X

2) Position of W/H : Y

3) Length from W/H to Fwd : AB

A B

X
Y

Most of the officers have been seen drawing swinging circle as above in diagram & as follows :

a) Normally officers take / note position much after the anchor is let gone & actually by that time position
has already shifted due to current and/or wind.

b) They take the centre of Sw Circle at Y, i.e. posn from W/H (either with terrestrial brg/dist or by GPS)
c) Radius of circle = AB + Length of cable paid out.

d) Above results in vessel being most of the time out of drawn Sw circle by about vessel's length, which seems
to be OK on small scale charts, but it makes lot of difference on large scale charts.

e) Lastlly officers have been seen plotting periodical bearing/distances or GPS position every time on the
chart and in case of prolong anchorages the Sw circle area on chrt is full of lines/arcs/holes.

f) MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF SWINGING CIRCLE IS STILL MISSING IN ABOVE.

g) No proper log is maintained during anchorages.

 CORRECT WAY OF DRAWING SWINGING CIRCLE
A B
1) Vessel dropping anchor in posn. X
2) Position of W/H : Y X
3) Length from W/H to Fwd : AB
4) Ship's head while anchor dropped : 090 Y

Y"

C
Y X R = AB + C
A B D"

Pivot Point
C D"

D
A) Immediately upon dropping anchor following to be noted.
1) Vessel's heading ( The most important for swinging circle )
2) Ship's position ( one by GPS and at least one more by terrestrial bearing/distance if possible )
3) Depth of sea bed while letting go anchor.
B) By the time vessel is brought up, W/H posn is shifted from initial Y to Y".
1) Considering CD = length paid out (most of it rests on sea-bed), DD" = depth of sea bed from Focs'le, the
horizontal component CD" can be calculated by Tangent formula.
2) Plot the ship's initial position (taken while letting go anchor) i.e. at Y
3) Draw ship's heading from point Y and equal to length AB. ( i.e. 090 deg from Y and YX = AB in this case )
4) Taking centre as X and radius of circle = AB + CD", circle to be drawn.
C) For monitoring position during anchorage period, following limits to taken with the help of this Swinging Circle:
1) Limit of Latitude and Longitude.
2) Limits of minimum & maximum bearing/s of any terrestrial object/s.
3) Limits of minimum & maximum distance/s of any terrestrial object/s.
During anchor watches as long as the observation are within these limits, the vessel remains within the circle
and there is no need to plot on the chart every now & then but to maintain the record on sheet provided.
D) Caution & Reminder w.r.t. Pivot Point :
Holding of anchor is based on the Principle of Catenary with farthest end as Anchor. We should ensure that
this farthest end remains as away as possible from anchor, means some length of cable must always rest
on sea-bed in order to avoid dragging. At any time if the observed position lies on the circumference of SC, it
means cable is stretched fully (anchor becomes end point of catenary) and it is the time pay out more cable
and pick up the anchor and either shift to another position or sail out and be adrift in open area.

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