Evaluation of onboard stability assessment techniques under real operational conditions

Stability-related accidents and crew lack of training are among the main causes of fatalities in the fishing fleet. Onboard stability guidance systems have been proposed by many authors as a possible solution. These guidance systems have been evolving from colour-coded posters to computer-based systems. However, their real-time operation without crew interaction is not solved yet. This work presents the validation of a methodology proposed by the authors in previous works for estimating the natural roll frequency of the vessel in real-time and thus the metacentric height. The performance of this method, based on the analysis of the roll motion, is tested during a fishing campaign of a mid-sized trawler, showing very promising results. •Mid-sized fishing vessels are the focus of the study.•A methodology for the estimation in real-time of the metacentric height of the vessel is presented.•Roll motion time series are analysed using signal processing methods that include the Fast Fourier Transform.•Validation with data of roll motion from a real fishing campaign is performed.