Question 3970 Deck General

The correct answer is B) bank cushion. When a vessel is transiting a channel and its bow swings away from the bank, this effect is known as "bank cushion." This occurs due to the pressure differential between the water flowing along the vessel's hull and the water flowing along the bank. The faster-moving water along the vessel's hull creates a lower pressure, which pushes the bow away from the bank, causing the vessel to "bank cushion" or swing away from the shoreline. The other options are incorrect: A) bank suction refers to the opposite effect where the vessel's bow is pulled towards the bank, C) sheer force is a different hydrodynamic effect, and D) yaw is the vessel's rotation around its vertical axis, which is not the specific term for the described scenario.