Gross tonnage
Encyclopedia
Gross tonnage is a unitless index related to a ship's overall internal volume. Gross tonnage is different from gross register tonnage
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...

. Neither gross tonnage nor gross register tonnage is a measure of the ship's displacement (mass) and should not be confused with terms such as deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage
Deadweight tonnage is a measure of how much weight a ship is carrying or can safely carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water, ballast water, provisions, passengers, and crew...

 or displacement
Displacement (ship)
A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

.

Gross tonnage, along with net tonnage, were defined by The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969, adopted by the International Maritime Organization in 1969, and came into force on July 18, 1982. These two measurements replaced gross register tonnage (GRT) and net register tonnage (NRT). Gross tonnage is calculated based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship" and is used to determine things such as a ship's manning regulations, safety rules, registration fees and port dues, whereas the older gross register tonnage is a measure of the volume of certain enclosed spaces.

History

The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969 was adopted by IMO in 1969. The Convention mandated a transition from the former measurements of gross register tonnage
Gross Register Tonnage
Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...

 (grt) and net register tonnage
Net register tonnage
Net register tonnage is a ship's cargo volume capacity expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated by reducing non-revenue-earning spaces i.e. spaces not available for carrying cargo, for example engine rooms, fuel tanks and crew quarters, from the ship's...

 (nrt) to gross tonnage (GT) and net tonnage (NT). It was the first successful attempt to introduce a universal tonnage measurement system.

Various methods were previously used to calculate merchant ship tonnage, but they differed significantly and one single international system was needed. Previous methods traced back to George Moorsom
Moorsom System
The Moorsom System is a method created in Great Britain of calculating the tonnage or cargo capacity of sailing ships as a basis for assessing harbour and other vessel fees...

 of Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

's Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...

 who devised one such method in 1854.

The tonnage determination rules apply to all ships built on or after July 18, 1982. Ships built before that date were given 12 years to migrate from their existing gross register tonnage (GRT) to use of GT and NT. The phase-in period was provided to allow ships time to adjust economically, since tonnage is the basis for satisfying manning regulations and safety rules. Tonnage is also the basis for calculating registration fees and port dues. One of the Convention's goals was to ensure that the new calculated tonnages "did not differ too greatly" from the traditional gross and net register tonnages.

Both GT and NT are obtained by measuring ship's volume and then applying a mathematical formula. Gross tonnage is based on "the moulded volume of all enclosed spaces of the ship" whereas net tonnage is based on "the moulded volume of all cargo spaces of the ship." In addition, a ship's net tonnage is constrained to be no less than 30% of her gross tonnage.

Calculation

The Gross tonnage calculation is defined in Regulation 3 of Annex 1 of The International Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships, 1969. It is based on two variables:
  • V, the ship's total volume in cubic meters (m³), and
  • K, a multiplier based on the ship volume.


The value of the multiplier K varies in accordance with a ship's total volume (in cubic metres) and is applied as a kind of reduction factor in determining the gross tonnage value - which does not have a unit such as cubic metres or tons. For smaller ships, K is smaller, for larger ships, K is larger. K ranges from 0.22 to 0.32 and is calculated with a formula which uses the common or base-10 logarithm
Common logarithm
The common logarithm is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm, named after its base. It is indicated by log10, or sometimes Log with a capital L...

:


Once V and K are known, gross tonnage is calculated using the formula, whereby GT is a function of V:


As an example, we can calculate the gross tonnage of a ship with 10,000 m³ total volume.


Then the gross tonnage is calculated:

See also

  • Tonnage
    Tonnage
    Tonnage is a measure of the size or cargo carrying capacity of a ship. The term derives from the taxation paid on tuns or casks of wine, and was later used in reference to the weight of a ship's cargo; however, in modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a calculation of the volume...

  • Gross register tonnage
    Gross Register Tonnage
    Gross register tonnage a ship's total internal volume expressed in "register tons", one of which equals to a volume of . It is calculated from the total permanently enclosed capacity of the vessel. The ship's net register tonnage is obtained by reducing the volume of non-revenue-earning spaces i.e...

  • Compensated gross tonnage
    Compensated gross tonnage
    Compensated Gross Tonnage is an indicator of the amount of work that is necessary to build a given ship and is calculated by multiplying the tonnage of a ship by a coefficient, which is determined according to type and size of a particular ship....

  • Ton
    Ton
    The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years. It is used principally as a unit of weight, and as a unit of volume. It can also be used as a measure of energy, for truck classification, or as a colloquial term.It is derived from...

  • List of world's largest ships by gross tonnage
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