<![CDATA[Longitudinal strength is a fundamental aspect of barge structural safety because variations in loading magnitude and load position may significantly affect the global hull girder response. This study evaluates the longitudinal strength of a cargo barge based on shear force and still water bending moment under several loading conditions, with reference to the applicable BKI Rules for longitudinal strength assessment. The object of the study is a cargo barge with principal dimensions of 330 ft × 90 ft × 21 ft and a lightship weight of 1802.9 metric tons. Six loading conditions were investigated, namely lightship, fully loaded, partially loaded at 50% with homogeneously distributed cargo, and three crane-shift positions at the aft, midship, and fore sections. The net load distribution was obtained from the difference between distributed weight and buoyancy, and then integrated to determine the shear force and still water bending moment along the hull. The results show that the fully loaded condition produced the most critical structural response, with a maximum shear force of 0.385 × 10³ metric tons at Frame 50 and a maximum still water bending moment of -6.212 × 10³ metric ton·m at Frame 35, indicating a dominant sagging condition. The governing case reached only 32.49% of the allowable shear force and 33.58% of the allowable still water bending moment, confirming a substantial safety margin. The crane-shift analysis further demonstrates that movable concentrated loads can shift critical internal force locations, which may be overlooked in standard cargo distribution analysis. All evaluated loading conditions remained below the permissible limits, indicating that the barge is structurally acceptable under the investigated still-water loading scenarios.]]>
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