Question 1788 Deck Safety

The correct answer is D) 5.66 feet. The reasoning is as follows: 1) The ship's center of gravity is 21.5 feet above the keel. 2) When the ship runs aground, 2500 tons of the ship's weight is supported by the ground. 3) This causes the center of gravity to rise virtually by the formula: virtual rise in CG = (weight aground x height of CG above keel) / (total displacement). 4) Plugging in the values, the virtual rise in CG is calculated as (2500 x 21.5) / 12000 = 5.66 feet. The other answer choices are incorrect because they do not correctly apply the formula to calculate the virtual rise in the center of gravity based on the given information.