In this paper, a version of which appeared in the October 1969 issue of the periodical Schip en Werf, Mr. Anneveld, who is the nautical adviser to a Dutch firm of marine solicitors, investigates the drift velocity and drift angle due to coriolis force on a vessel of a given size. He shows that these effects are not inconsiderable for large vessels operating in middle and high latitudes and may become of practical importance, particularly when berthing or navigating in the proximity of other vessels.

Captain A. Vreugdenhil first drew attention in 1955 to the effect of coriolis force on a moving vehicle and on ships in particular. Since then ships have increased greatly in size and as the coriolis force increases with the mass of the vehicle it may be useful to investigate the effect on the mammoth ships of today.