Date of Award
1998
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Master of Science in Maritime Affairs
Specialization
Maritime Safety Administration
Campus
Malmö, Sweden
Country
Philippines
First Advisor
Eriksson, Per
Abstract
Philippine outrigger boats are small wooden boats that have the distinct characteristics of a very slender hull and bamboo outriggers at each side. The study focuses on the outrigger design and their effect on boat stability. The main idea is to see if there is any design flaw to make the boat susceptible to capsizing. The paper briefly looks into the social and economic significance of outrigger boats in the Philippines and their various uses. It examines recent boat accidents involving boats that capsized and their probable cause. A review of basic outrigger boat parts introduces readers to the boat survey that became central to the stability analysis. Outrigger boats come in many different sizes with no standard design. A survey conducted during the summer of 1998 in two areas in Southern Philippines gathered and collated boat dimensions from 100 outrigger boats. The aim was to determine a “typical” outrigger design and analyze its stability performance. The concluding chapters prove that the typical outrigger boat is intrinsically stable and explores the limit of acceptable outrigger design. A number of recommendations are made concerning the safe construction and operation as well as areas for further study.