Ship

Lore & Background

The earliest historical evidence of boats is found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BC. In 2024, ships had a global cargo capacity of 2.4 billion tons, with the three largest classes being ships carrying dry bulk (43%), oil tankers (28%) and container ships (14%).

Reader's Guide

Ships are typically larger than boats, but there is no universally accepted distinction between the two. Ships generally can remain at sea for longer periods of time than boats. A legal definition of ship from Indian case law is a vessel that carries goods by sea. A common notion is that a ship can carry a boat, but not vice versa. A ship is likely to have a full-time crew assigned. A US Navy rule of thumb is that ships heel towards the outside of a sharp turn, whereas boats heel towards the inside because of the relative location of the center of mass versus the center of buoyancy. American and British 19th century maritime law distinguished 'vessels' from other watercraft; ships and boats fall in one legal category, whereas open boats and rafts are not considered vessels.

Did You Know?

• The word ship has meant, depending on era and context, either simply a large vessel or specifically a full-rigged ship with three or more masts, each of which is square rigged.
• Some large vessels are traditionally called boats, notably submarines.
• In most maritime traditions ships have individual names, and modern ships may belong to a ship class often named after its first ship.
• 'Ship' (along with 'nation') is an English word that has retained a female grammatical gender in some usages, which allows it to sometimes be referred to as a 'she' without being of female natural gender.