It has been shown that in the context of a linear theory for a floating body with six degrees of freedom each of the 6 × 6 added-mass and damping matrices contains three distinct Cartesian second-order tensors in regard to translational, rotational and interaction between translational and rotational oscillations. As a result of this, a new technique based on the transformation law of second-order tensors is introduced for motion analysis of offshore platforms which can be used as an alternative to the common methods in offshore engineering.