Inclining Experiment carried out on a newly built vessel on which has undergone major structural changes to ascertain the light kg of the vessel.
once the light kg is known, the kg of the vessel can be found out in any condition.

Solas Requirement Inclining Experiment:

every passenger ship or every cargo ship of length >24m shall have its light kg ascertained by an inclining experiment.such an experiment shall be conducted when the ship is fully constructed or as far as fully constructed
every 5 years a lightship survey shall be carried out on a passenger ship.if the difference is more than 2% or if the LCG of the vessel has been deviated by more than 1 % then the inclining experiment test shall be conducted again.

Principle Of Inclining Test:

when a known weight is shifted from one place to another, perpendicular to the ship’s centerline, the vessel heels and the righting moment adjust itself to equal the healing moment. the angle of heel is measured, this process is repeated at several angles in both directions and vessel kg is calculated.

Procedure:

A Plumb Bob Is Attached Inside The Cargo Holds.
To Have Better Accuracy Three Such Bobs Are Arranged,1 In The Fwd, 1 In Midship And 1 In The Aft Of The Ship.
Four Equal Weights W1, W2, W3, W4 Are Placed On The Deck.
W1 Is Shifted Along With W3 And Deviation Is Obtained.
W2 Is Shifted Along With W 4 And Deviation Is Obtained.
W1 Is Shifted Back To Its Orignal Position And A Deviation Is Obtained
W 2 Is Shifted Back To Its Orignal Position And Deviation Is Obtained.
W3 Is Shifted Along With W1 And Deviation Is Obtained.
W4 Is Shifted Along With W2 And Deviation Is Obtained.
W 3 Is Shifted Back To Its Orignal Position And Deviation Is Obtained.
W 4 Is Shifted Back To Its Orignal Position And Deviation Is Obtained.
A Mean Of All These Deviations Is Obtained And Applied In The Formula
A Value Of Gm Is Obtained From The Formula.
A Value Of Km Is Obtained From The Hydrostatic
A Value Of Kg has Obtained This Kg Is Also Contains The Weight Of The Weight Used E. The Kg Is For W+4w.
Using The Moments Method A Light Ship Kg Is Calculated.

Precaution To Be Taken :

1. • this experiment must be conducted only after the vessel is in the completion stage of the construction or as nearly as possible to her final state of construction.
   • the vessel should be in a sheltered environment floating freely and away from the influence of wind, current, tide, propeller washes of other vessels, etc.
   • a vessel must be in upright condition, however, if she is listed the list should not be greater than half a degree.
   • the vessel should have an unduly large trim because if the trim is very large the hydrostatic particulars obtained from the particulars would have some error, therefore, a detailed calculation of these should be done by the naval architects before conducting the experiments
   • accurate six-sided draft of the vessel must be obtained and the density of the water determined carefully.
   • the vessel should be so far as possible in her light condition with minimum external weight on board, the UKC weight of more than 4%of the lightship should not be used.
   • shore gangway must be removed and the vessel breasted of the jetty for free.
   • there should be enough UKC to prevent the vessel from touching the bottom during the experiment.
   • the total sum of weight used for the experiment should be at least 1/500th of the lightship weight.
   • each deflection of the pendulum should be at least 15 cms.
   • the list produce during the experiment should be less than 1° and should not be more than 4°.if the list is excessive it will not be promoted to the healing moment provided.
   • the length of the plumb line should be between 4-6 cms.for v/ls with very large gm, more length of plumbline or more inclination weights can be used which are comparatively heavier, in order to produce an effective list.
   • in the absence of inclination weights, the experiment can be conducted using controlled water ballast but only after approval from the administration.
   • the person not required for the experiment should leave the vessel and the persons onboard should position themselves along the centerline.
   • the vessel should be in her seagoing condition and item liable to shift must be secured in their position some shipyards use an instrument known as the stabilograph which records the list produced with reference to the time.