This paper reviews several approaches to wave drift damping experienced by floating bodies. A heuristic approach first introduced by
Aranha giving the wave drift damping tensor for the surge and sway modes of motion in finite depth is used. Results for the surge wave drift
damping are compared with experimental results from model tests. These tests were carried out with three different floaters, one tanker and
two barges in different water depth. Close agreement is found for the tanker case. Some discrepancies are observed for the two barges.
Although the theoretical foundations of the Aranha formula are not completely understood, it nevertheless provides reasonable estimates,
which are quite valuable for engineering applications in the offshore industry.
