The lower hold of your vessel has a bale capacity of 60,000 cubic feet. How many tons of cotton in bales having a stowage factor of 85 can be stowed in the lower hold, assuming a broken stowage factor of 20%?

Correct Answer: Option B — 565

Effective capacity is 60,000 cu ft minus 20% broken stowage (48,000 cu ft). Dividing by the 85 cu ft/ton stowage factor yields approximately 564.7 tons, correctly rounding to 565 tons.