What is Ship's Hull?

 A hull is that part of ship that extends below the waterline to cover and protect water from getting in. You can consider it as the shell which protects the inside treasures from outside environment.

Ship's Hull

Everything that is stored and situated within the main ship structure is covered and protected by the ships hull. It includes the key parts of the ship such as bow, deck, the bottom keel and the both sides of the ship.

Various parts of Ship's Hull

They are made up of series of plates jointed together called stakes along with other structural member such as plating and stiffeners.

A stiffener consists of structural parts such as longitudinal and transverse frames, bulkhead stiffness, girders and beam. While ships plating consists mainly of deck platting along with bottom, bulkhead and side platting.

 

Hull Design

Ships hull are designed as such to offer minimum resistance to water, is feasible and economical to construct without losing on much needed cargo space. One can easily calculate and improve the overall efficiency of a ship calculating and reducing hull’s resistance to ships motion.

 

FUNCTIONS

Made of steel the key role of ships hull is to maintain its water-tight integrity and reduce water drag. And so hull plays a major role in determining the overall efficiency of a ship. Ships hull are thus coated with special paints that not only reduce frictional drag but also avoid marine growth which further increases the resistance to ships motion. Thus ships hull are cleaned and repainted with special coating during dry dock operation.