It has always been quite gratifying to attract a large gathering of distinguished experts from all over the world to a particular location for discussion on aspects of their specialist subject. In this case the location was the University of Strathelyde, Glasgow and the subject was the important topic of intact stability of ships and ocean vehicles. The two main purposes of the conference were to provide a forum at international level for the discussion of research findings on stability, and to facilitate the use of such research findings as guidelines for future research efforts and encourage the practical application of the results.

The conference was unique in that it was the first occasion on which so many experts on the topic were gathered under the one roof to examine stability. The opportunity thus presented to elicit the opinions of such a group was too good to miss and this brief report comments on the methods adopted and the results achieved in a delegate survey. It would be very good and useful to go through the materials collected in such compilations in order to be in line with the developments in the industry, starting from the very first conference. That is why we would recommend to have all of the articles readily available.

For the first time in recent history. Russia is hosting an esteemed international conference in the field of stability and safety of ships and ocean vehicles. This is a token of recognition of the contribution made by Russian researchers in this field for the last hundred years. Traditionally. STAB conferences are places for the exchange of information on the most recent results, formulation new ideas and directions of research, as well as a place for discussions of new proposals for stability criteria and standards.

This is why there are well-established sets of sessions like Rules and Criteria. Intact Stability. Damage Stability. Nonlinear Dynamics, etc. The difference between the conferences was mostly on key problems that were discussed within the frames of these sessions. This conference has a large number of papers focused on numerical and IT aspects of stability-related problems. Inevitably, as these problems became complex or diverse, use of new information technologies comes into the focus. These technologies are now considered from a new point of view: not so much as just a more powerful computing tool, but rather focusing on facilitation of the exchange of data and knowledge between researchers.

There is an understanding that these technologies are needed, not because they are convenient, but because new problems cannot be solved without these new technologies. This understanding becomes a factor of progress just by itself. Almost ninety papers were submitted for the conference, and the authors of these papers represent more than twenty countries. All the papers were peer-reviewed. I hope that the hard work of the reviewer's will help the conference be a success. I would also like to acknowledge the great help from the members of the international standing committee, particularly. Dr. Vadim Belenky. Prof. Kostas Spyrou. Prof. Alberto Francescutto and Prof. Luis Peres Rojas.

However, the conference is being held at a time that is not easy at all for the global economy. It makes it even more valuable that the spread of participation covers the entire world: Japan. Korea. Europe. Australia, New Zealand, and the Americas. It shows how important, as an international event...

Same as with the other STAB conferences, this compilation of files includes all papers presented in the course of the Seventh conference held in Madrid, Spain in 2003. The papers included in this set have been grouped. The first group describes the historical routes of the theory of the vessels' hydrostatic stability; the second group contains papers on the accident investigation and addresses the investigations of two famous accidents, namely sinking of the ro-ro passenger ferry "Express Samina" and capsizing of a fishing vessel "Ryuho Maru No. 5". The water on deck section consists of two articles, first on the nonlinear roll and numerical approach, and second dedicated to the investigation into various effects of the shallow water on deck. The section "extreme weather effects" explains the effects of the green sea loads on general cargo ships, and lashing the trailers on the ro-ro vessels under intensive rolling. The unconventional ships have also been dealt with in one of the chapters providing the latest studies of the dynamic stability of an UWV (underwater vehicle) and damage stability of TLP (tension leg platform) in ice environment.  The other sections of the book cover design for safety, damage ship stability, safety of the large passenger vessels, parametric rolling, regulatory aspects etc.

The first of the numerous papers that have been presented in the course of the Second STAB held in 1982 in Tokyo, Japan, deals with the following aspects related to the capsizing of the hotel platform "Alexander L. Kielland": a short overview of the design features of the Pentagone offshore platform together with the circumstances of the accident, static analysis of the capsizing, theoretical calculations relating to the capsizing after loss of leg D. the calculations are carried out in still water without the effect of anchor forces, wind, waves and current; including the effect of anchor forces and wind over-turning moment.

That study was undertaken by stepwise filling of the deck structure and trunks in legs C and E. Calculations of the stability and floating position in the various phases are made. Study of the survival capabilities of a Pentagone rig after loss of one of the legs with particular emphasis on possible equilibrium by ballast redistribution.

Evaluation of present stability criteria in light of the accident. Note that the special attention was drawn to damage stability criteria. Present survival criteria deal only with "low impact" damage, and the consequences of "higher impact" damage might be very serious for most of the offshore rigs that are in service today...

The collection of all activities during the STAB 2006 that was held in Rio-de-Janeiro, Brazil, in 2006. It is presented as the small program which requires no installation; it allows to navigate through the structure of the STAB conferences and access all documents.

Among the key points of the subject conference there were IMO and weather criteria, workshop on safety of offshore floating units, naval architecture and stability, probabilistic approaches, fundamental aspects of parametric resonance and parametric resonance in realistic seaway, numerical and physical modeling for parametric resonance, environmental modeling, stability of high speed vehicles and naval vessels, maneuvering in waves, nonlinear dynamics, intact stability and ship motions, damage stability for passenger and naval vessels, ship survivability, risk-based approaches to damage stability, rules and standards, behavior of the damaged vessel and progressive flooding, accidents investigations, stabilizing systems, safety in operations, water on deck etc.

Taking into account the technical freshness and actuality of the materials included into this set of papers, we would definitely recommend it to anyone willing to stay duly updated with the latest technical developments in the field of ship stability. 

The book is containing the most interesting materials - proceedings of the Eleventh STAB. With a history of more than forty years, these conferences and associated workshops on ship stability are the main meeting points for the recognized and world respected maritime industry professionals and researchers interested in the important problems of stability of marine vessels. Subject conferences are based on completely refereed contributions.

Among the declared objectives of the STAB conferences there is promotion of the exchanges of new ideas and successful methodologies that address the stability of the vessels as well as any other marine vehicles, providing today's naval architects, ship stability researchers as well as ship owners, operators and consultants, certifying and inspection authorities with the opportunities to discuss, present and be kept duly updated with the latest developments in the assessment of ship stability as applied to all sizes and types of floating objects, i.e. ships, platforms etc.

This compendium will be of great use to any person interested in the contemporary problems of ship stability; in addition, it shall be considered a very good supplement to the theoretical studies of the future naval architects and shipbuilders.

The proceedings of the international conference STAB 1997 held in Varna, Bulgaria, and edited by Peter Bogdanov. STAB'97 is a follow-up Conference which continues the trend set by previous Conferences held in Glasgow (1975), Tokyo (1982), Gdansk (1986), Naples (1990) and Melbourne, Florida (1994) Being traditionally engaged with the most contemporary and important problems of stability and safety of ships and ocean vehicles, the STAB Conference is acknowledged as one of the most prestigious international events in the field of Marine Science, recognized not only by scientists, naval architects, shipbuilders and designers but also by officers of all branches of marine administration and control organizations, regulatory agencies, ship owners, marine consultants and operators, etc.

The topics of the Conference can be classified as follows - Theoretical and Experimental Studies on Stability of Ships and Floating Marine Structures; Advances in Experimental Technique for Investigations on Stability; Stability criteria Philosophy and Research, Realistic Stability Criteria; Operational Stability - the Influence of Environment; Damage Stability; Stability of Fishing Vessels; Upgrading of Stability Qualities of Ro-Ro Ships; Stability of Nonconventional Ship Types and Special Crafts; Risk and Reliability Analysis in Stability and Capsizing; Application of Expert Systems and On-board Computers Stability Monitoring and Control...

The publication was prepared and released to provide all people interested in naval history with the absolutely completed record of literally all fighting vessels of the British Royal Navy Fleet starting from the fifteenth century and up to the present time. This volume is the updated version of the one released in 2003 - it has been significantly updated and revised in order to include the vessels which were added to the Royal Navy.

The author has also included in this publication some ships constructed as warships, for example motor gun boats. coastal forces etc. We would definitely recommend to treat this volume as a genuine ABS of the vessels belonging to the Royal Navy - the content of the book contains the results of the researches conducted by the author. Needless to say that the information provided in the pages of this "encyclopedia" of Royal Navy fleet will be greatly appreciated by the naval history enthusiasts, professional naval historians and all other persons with the interest in naval wars.

The decision was made by the author to omit the technical details of the engines installed on the steam vessels for the sake of brevity. Most of the modern ships included in the book are provided only with the tonnage as, actually, all other technical info is readily available everywhere and may be easily obtained from the reference books.