HomeCalculatorsAir Resistance - Above-Water Drag

Air Resistance - Above-Water Drag

Air resistance force on above-water superstructure given projected frontal area, drag coefficient, and relative wind speed.

Air dragResistanceWind
Air resistance
71.7kN
Formula, assumptions, and limits

C_D ≈ 0.8 for containerships, 0.6 tankers, 0.7 bulker. Full OCIMF/Isherwood windage model uses heading-dependent C_D(X,Y,N). Typical at 15 m/s wind ≈ 5 % of total resistance.

Symbol legend

SymbolMeaningUnitSource
Drag coefficient - OCIMF / Isherwood
Frontal projected areaGA drawing
Relative windm/sanemometer