Deadweight tonnage

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As weight is added to a ship, it submerges. Maximum DWT is the amount of weight a ship can carry without riding dangerously low in the water.

Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight and variously abbreviated as DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) is a measure of how much mass or weight of cargo or burden a ship can safely carry.^[1][2][3] Deadweight tonnage was historically expressed in long tons^[4] but is now largely replaced internationally by tonnes.^[5] Deadweight tonnage is not a measure of the ship's displacement and should not be confused with terms such as gross register tonnage, net tonnage, or displacement.

Scale for a 6000 tonne DWT ship

Deadweight tonnage at any given time is defined as the sum of the weights or masses of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers and crew.^[1]

The term is often used to denote maximum deadweight tonnage. This is the deadweight tonnage when the ship is fully loaded, such that its Plimsoll line is at the point of submersion.

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Hayler, William B. (2003). American Merchant Seaman's Manual. Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87033-549-9. 
• Gilmer, Thomas C. (1975). Modern Ship Design. Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-399-1. 
• Turpin, Edward A.; McEwen, William A. (1980). Merchant Marine Officers' Handbook, 4th, Centreville, Maryland: Cornell Maritime Press. ISBN 0-87038-056-X. 

[edit] See also

Nautical Portal

• Tonnage
• Ton
• Light ship displacement