Development of damage stability as a scientific subject, specifically in ship hydrodynamics and generally flooding risk assessment, has evolved primarily by inquisitive academics with support by people with vision and passion towards maritime safety enhancement from industry and Government, the latter in the wake of serious accidents. Notwithstanding this, the subject has seen remarkable development in a short period of time in terms of understanding, methods and tools development, reaching a stage where large scale EC-funded projects bring all requisite knowledge and experience together towards implantation fruition with the view to institutionalising such developments. The paper critically traces and presents key developments in this direction.
