PARTS OF A MERCHANT SHIP IN GENERAL

DEAR VISITOR,

There are many parts of a ship and it varies as per the ship type and length . However a general list of the various part of the ship has been detailed here. This list contains the parts of a cargo vessel .

Starting from the top most point on a ship :

• The MONKEY ISLAND ( a place where all the antenna and transmission and reception units antennas are situated) it is the place ( open deck ) just above the ship's navigational bridge.

• The Navigation Bridge ( it is a place / deck from where a ship MASTER ( CAPTAIN ) and ship's officers control the movements of a ship.

• The CREW ACCOMMODATION deck ( several decks / plateforms and cabins are designed for the ship's officers , engineers and crews residence )

• FUNNEL DECK ( a place where all the exhaust pipes from main engine and generators are leading out )

• BOAT DECK ( a deck on which life boats are placed in ready positions , on the davits , usually on both PORT and STARBOARD sides of the ship ) i.e. left and right hand side

• Then there are MESS ROOMS / SMOKE ROOMS / REST ROOMS / SWIMMING POOL / GALLEY ( KITCHEN ) / GYM ROOM etc.

• WEATHER DECK / UPPER DECK ( It is the upper most continuous deck on a ship , it is open to weather and sea on this deck mooring equipments and machineries are mounted in the forward and after parts of the ship.

• STEM ( the foremost plate line of the ship )

• STERN ( the after part of the ship )

• FORECASTLE DECk ( forward part deck where all the mooring appliances are kept)

• POOP DECK ( after part where all the mooring appliances are kept )

• FORECASTLE STORE ( a store room in the front part of the ship used for general purpose)

• SHIP'S CARGO GEAR ( It may be a RADIAL HYDRULIC CRANE , GANTRY CRANE, or A DERICK
  

These are some parts of ship visible to the outsiders when the ship is moving through the water. But there a many more in the list which are visible to the outsiders when the ship is in the DRY DOCK.

However we will see some more parts of a cargo ship in the following list

• CARGO HOLD ( a storage place where the cargo is loaded and stored safely )
  

• HATCH COVER ( It is a cover for the cargo holds for the protection of the cargo from the various natural and atmospheric conditions )

• ENGINE ROOM (It is the designated space for the ship's main engine and its various components )
  

• EMERGENCY FIRE PUMP ( It is a designated pump for supply of sea water in case of any emergency .)
  

• EMERGENCY GENERATOR ( It is a designated machinery / generator for the electric suppy in case of any emergency i.e. black out. )
  

• BATTERY ROOM ( It is the location of the ship's spare batteries which are kept ready and charged to provide back up in case of any emergency such as black out. etc. )

• BALLAST TANK (These are the tanks made in the ship's hull or say in the ship's bottom part to carry the ballast water i.e. sea water to enable the ship to gain some stability and draft )

• LUB OIL TANK ( These are the tanks constructed in the ship's hull to store the lub oil required for the main engine and generator engines )

• BUNKER TANK (These are the tanks constructed in the ship's hull to store the ship's fuel oil i.e. diesel and heavy oil to run the ship's machinery.)

• AIR BOTTLE ( These are the air bottles designed to store preserve the compressed air for the main engine starting purposes and for deck work as well )

• UNDER DECK PASSAGE ( These are the tunnels or under deck passages to enable the ship's personnel to move from the forward to after part of the ship. )

• DUCT KEEL ( It is the small diameter tunnel or low height passage way in the ships bottom part near the ship's fore and aft center line - through which  most of the electric cables and pipelines run from forward to after par of the ship. )

• BOW THRUSTER ( These are the small size thruster fans fitted in the forward bottom part of the ship - to create the high power thrust in the bow part of the ship thus enabling the ship to swing the head in the desired direction. )

• PROPELLER (This is a huge size fan or say assembly of big size blades which , when rotated under power , generates very high thrust  and that propels  the ship ahead. It is fitted in the after bottom par of the ship. In short, the "propeller" enables the ship to move under power )

• RUDDER ( It is the big size plating  enabled  to move radially - fitted just behind the propeller,  to alter the direction of the thrust , thus changing the heading of the ship. )