Three main parts of a ship are The Hull, an engine room, and a navigation bridge. The most forward part of a ship is called a Bow, the left-hand side of the ship is referred to as port whereas the right side is called starboard. Likewise, the front side is termed as forward and the backside as astern.
Bulkhead: A bulkhead is an upright wall within the hull of a ship.
Bridge: The ship’s bridge is the commanding station of a ship. It controls the ship’s movement throughits navigational equipment.
Functions that are usually performed on the bridge are: controlling the ship’s speed and direction (navigation), monitoring weather and sea conditions, navigating and fixing the position of the ship, and facilitating internal as well as external communication.
Funnel: A Funnel is a chimney on a vessel used to discharge engine smoke.
Accommodation: The accommodation area is the house for crews and lives. It has all the amenities along with offices, gym, crew cabins, hospital, salon, recreation room, common rooms, laundry, and galley.
Monkey Island: Monkey Island is a sort of deck located at the topmost accessible height of the ship and just above the bridge.
Deck: There can be multiple decks or deck sections on a ship. The deck at the top which bears maximum exposure to weather is referred to as the main deck or weather deck.
On the basis of the position of a ship’s deck, decks are of six main types; main deck, poop deck, upper deck, and forecastle deck.
The deck’s main function is holding the hull structure and providing a floor to work, and standing and guarding them against outside weather.
Mast: The mast is a rangy spar arrangement that is elevated vertically to the Centerline of a ship.
It has several purposes which include carrying derricks and also giving fundamental height to the navigation light, salient yards, radio or radar aerials, and scanners.
Bridge Wing: It is an extended area on the sides of the bridge that provides an unobstructed view of the forward, aft, and respective sides.
It also serves as an operating station for lookout.
Stem: Front-most part of the ship’s bow.
The keel itself is extended up to gunwale to form the curved edge called the stem of the ship.
Forecastle: The forecastle is the foremost deck of the ship.
Since anchors are located in the forward of a ship, Forecastle serves as the anchor station.
Stern: The stern is an aft end structure and designed to provide low resistance, high propulsion efficiency, and avoid vibrations.
It is the rearmost part of a ship that keeps the water out. Rudders and propellers are hanged to the stern
Side Thrusters: These are somewhat like a propeller and fitted on either side of the bow of the ship.
It helps in maneuvering ships at a slow speed in congested waters near ports or canals. These are also referred to as tunnel thrusters.
Rudder: The rudder is a flat hollow structure, housed in the aft of the propeller, which steers the ship.
As a vital part of the ship, the rudder is provided with a steering gear system that controls the movement of the rudder.
Rudder works on the principle of unequal water pressure creating a yawing motion of the ship.
Propeller: It is a mechanical device having blades fitted on a central shaft. These blades rotate and their rotational energy is converted into pressure energy and due to this, the propeller produces the thrust required for propulsion. It pushes the seawater backward and, in turn, the seawater helps the ship in moving forward.
Engine, shaft, and propeller together constitute propulsion unit.
The main function of the propeller is to propel the ship in the forward direction by producing thrust on water. Its works on the principles of Newton’s third law of motion and Bernoulli’s theorem.
Ballast Tanks: The compartments maintained specially to carry water, which serves the purpose of ballasting and stabilizing the vessel, are termed as Ballast Tanks.
These tanks are revolutionary to the marine industry as before their evolution solid ballast was used and their discharging is quite difficult as compared to easier pumping of liquid ballast.
Hull: The hull is a watertight body of a vessel that may be open or may be partially covered with a deck.
Hull has several watertight decks and bulkheads as the major transverse membrane.
Cargo hold: Enclosed space to retain and store cargo or freight container is referred to as cargo hold.
The cargo hold is located under the deck of the ship.
The main function of the cargo hold is to preserve cargo when it is transported to the destination.
Bunker tanks: The tanks which are used to store fuel on ships are known as bunker tanks.
Merchant ship’s names are prefixed by which kind of vessel they are:
MV = Motor Vessel / Merchant Vessel MT = Motor Tanker or Motor Tug Boat RMS = Royal Mail Ship LPG = Gas Carrier transporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas LNG = Gas carrier transporting Liquefied Natural Gas
